Amddiffyn
by happieface03
Summary: Merlin learns that he's not alone as he discovers an ancient society of sorcerers who protect camelot, and with Morgana and Morgouse up to no good he'll need all the help he can get. Merlin/OC hint of Arthur/Gwen
1. Secret Revealed

**This is my first fanfic. Remember to review and tell me what you think! Also and suggestions/gramatical fixes would be appreciated!**

**Disclaimer: unfortunatly i don't own Merlin**

Chapter 1

Merlin quickly darted behind the stall of some merchant in the lower town. Sometimes he wished his life was as simple as the man's who would work this stall tomorrow. Instead he was following one of Albion's most dangerous men through the lower town. He silently cursed his destiny as he ducked behind some barrels.

Even though sometimes protecting Arthur in times like this could be a pain, Merlin knew he would never trade his life for anything. One day all of his hard work would pay off and people would appreciate him, but for now the assassin was getting farther away and it was time to find some new cover.

About a week ago, the assassin had made his first attempt on Arthur's life. When his first attempt failed, thanks to a quick spell by Merlin, he had tried to kill Arthur four more times. During the last attempt Merlin happened to see the assassin as he hid in the trees with a crossbow pointed at Arthur's heart. Not only did Merlin use magic to keep the arrow from killing Arthur, but he also managed to put a tracking spell on the assassin. During all of this Arthur had kept riding without noticing that his life had been in jeopardy.

Merlin had used the tracking spell to find the inn where the assassin was staying. Luckily the assassin had left the inn mysteriously in the middle of the night, no doubt to do some shady business.

This was the perfect situation for Merlin. It was dark and past curfew, so no one would see him use his magic and if his plan failed then the assassin would not be able to see his face.

Merlin took a deep breath as he called upon his magic. He and Gaius had spent all day figuring out this plan. It would be easy for Merlin to simply kill the assassin of course, but he just wasn't capable of taking the life of another human being. So they had decided that Merlin would make him unconscious with magic and then erase the assassin's memory of the last few weeks. That way he would forget that someone had paid him to kill the prince of Camelot.

"_**syrthio i gysgu**_" Merlin whispered.

Suddenly the assassin fell as Merlin's spell took affect. Merlin walked over to where the assassin lay face down on the street. He sat him up against a crate and knelt in next to the assassin. He placed his hand on the man's forhead and gathered his magic to start the complicated spell that would erase the assassin's memory.

"_**anghofio bod yr ydych wedi eu dysgu yn ddiweddar dileu yr atgofion gan eich meddwl gadael i'r tair wythnos diwethaf yn cael ei golli**_"'

"What does that do?" asked a new voice

Merlin spun around so fast to face the new voice that his eyes were still gold from the magic he preformed and the brown haired girl in the shadows was able to watch Merlin's eyes change back into their normal dark blue.

"wh.. wha.. what" Merlin stammered in fear. Someone saw him use magic!

"That spell, what will it do to him?" the girl asked.

Merlin just stared at her in fear... SOMEONE SAW HIM USING MAGIC!

"I mean I'm just curious" the girl continued as she walked closer to him "why would a sorcercer, and i guess a very powerful sorcerer from the power of that spell, take care of an assassin who is trying to kill the future king of Camelot?"

" I erased his memory of the past few weeks" Merlin replied still stunned. Who was this girl? How could she tell that he had jusst done a powerful spell? And how did she know that this was the assassin?

"That's smart, this way he won't remember to kill the Prince right?" when Merlin didn't reply she said "oh please you have nothing to fear from me. I won't tell the King."

"You won't?" Merlin couldn't believe it. "Why?"

The girl smiled "because then I'd be the biggest hypocrite in the world"

She opened her palm and said "_**cynnau tân**_" and her eyes flashed gold and a in her palm a fire ignited.

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Read phonetically

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	2. The Others

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**Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin**

Merlin stared at the girl with the small ball of fire in her hand. With the small amount of light he was finally able to see the girls face. She was pretty he thought, with piercing green eyes and a kind face. She wore peasants clothing and had her hair pulled out of her face for convenience rather than style.

The girl put out the flame.

"I'm Ayra" she said as she put out her hand for him to shake, the same hand that had magically created a fire only seconds ago.

Merlin shook her hand "I'm Merlin"

"Well meerrliin," she stretched out his name as if she were trying it out "I'm guessing from the fact that you just prevented Prince Arthur's death that you are a friend of Camelot's?"

"Yes" Merlin said cautiously he didn't know where this conversation was going. Was this a girl a friend of Camelot as well and about to congratulate him? Or the more likely option was she an enemy of Camelot and angry with him for thwarting a plot that would hurt the kingdom?"

The girl smiled "well I guess that puts us on the same side then"

Merlin was about to reply when the assassin moaned.

"He's going to wake soon" Ayra said "Come with me"

She quickly turned away and started walking a t a brisk pace away from where the assassin was starting to stir.

"Where are going?" Merlin asked as he jogged to catch up to Ayra, almost tripping in the process.

"We're going to introduce you to the others. They probably could use you help right now."

There are others? Merlin thought

Even though inside he was full of excitement he managed to keep his voice steady as he asked "others?"

Ayra stopped suddenly causing Merlin was practically running to keep up with her fast pace to almost fall again.

Softly she said "Yes Merlin there are others. You are no longer alone."

Merlin thought about what this meant. There were others like him, with magic in Camelot all fighting for the kingdom. He no longer was solely responsible for the fate of Camelot; part of his burden could be shared. There were people who would know everything about him, there would be no secrets. Sure he had this type of open friendship with Lancelot but Lancelot couldn't fully understand him. These people, like Ayra, could be his friends and fully understand him. He looked at the girl in front of him waiting for a response. He defiantly would like to be friends with her.

Merlin smiled.

Merlin suddenly heard the sound of a fight, a sound he had become accustomed to since he became the servant of Prince Arthur. Merlin looked over at Ayra who looked worried.

"Something is wrong" she said "there wasn't supposed to be that big of a fight"

Merlin continued to look at the girl puzzled, but she ignored his look and started to run to where the fight was coming from.

After Ayra had told Merlin he wasn't alone anymore they had continued walking in silence. Ayra led him through the lower town to the walls of Camelot where the two of them had quietly slipped passed the guards. Ayra then continued into the forest surrounding Camelot where they had been walking for almost twenty minutes before they heard the sounds of the fight. During that time Merlin stared at Ayra, amazed that there were others like him. For some reason though he couldn't stop staring, he had caught himself a few times but had somehow always managed to find an excuse to keep looking at Ayra. Ayra, on the other hand, didn't turn around to look at Merlin once, and had barely glanced at him as she told him how to sneak past the guards.

Merlin ran over to Ayra. They were standing on the top of a hill that gave them a perfect view of the clearing below. There were six cloaked figures fighting almost thirty men in full armor. The armored men were surrounding a cart and there were about ten more armored men dead or seriously injured lying throughout the clearing.

Four of the cloaked figures were using magic to fight the armored men while the one magically controlled ten swords that each battled a different armored man and another fought with a sword covered in fire. As he watched, Merlin saw one of the cloaked figures get injured by an arrow from an armored man's crossbow. The man didn't even flinch, but rather continued to fight as another cloaked figure from the edge of the clearing made its way to the injured man. The fighter put up a quick shield as he allowed the newcomer to heal him, and then continued to fight. The other figure, having finished healing the fighter, looked up and saw Ayra and Merlin watching on the hill.

The figure quickly came out of the fight and ran towards the top of the hill.

"Julie what happened?" Ayra asked the panting figure.

"We ambushed them as planned, but there were twenty more men than we originally thought. Zoe said there would only be twenty!" Julie exclaimed.

Merlin was shocked to hear a man's voice come from the figure. And no matter how closely he looked he couldn't make out a face from under the hood of the cloak, even though the cowl wasn't pulled down very far.

"They must have changed their plans at the last minute" Ayra replied. She seemed to think for a minute as she looked down at the battle field "we cannot keep going like this for long"

"Maybe I can help" Merlin said.

Julie started as she seemed to notice Merlin for the first time "Whose this?" she asked Ayra.

"Merlin, do you think you could help?" Ayra asked

Merlin nodded.

Ayra looked at him for a few seconds before saying "Alright, our main objective here is to destroy that cart. Kill as many men as possible, but make sure that cart is destroyed!"

Merlin nodded again as he took a step away from Ayra and Julie and towards the battlefield. He took a second to assess the situation before he took a deep breath and called upon his magic.

"_**cynnau fflam a dinistrio popeth yn eich llwybr**_"

Suddenly Blue flames ignited the cart and started to spread towards the armored men. The armored men started to panic as they were ignited in flames.

"_**byrstio o bêl ynni yn mynd**_"

Now the armored men really started to panic as balls of pure energy started to rain down from the sky taking out two men at a time.

"_**saethau hedfan tuag at eich marc**_"

Already fired arrows from the armored men's crossbows quickly raised from the ground and shot themselves at the weak parts of the men's armor. This was too much, so the few armored men still alive ran from the clearing and into the trees.

Merlin turned around to see Arya and Julie, who had taken of her hood, smiling.

"Very impressive" Ayra said "What else can you do?"

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**All spells are in Welsh. an**


	3. Accepted

**Thank you so much all of you who have reviewed! i know this sounds cheesy but your reviews really do inspire me to write more!**

**Disclaimer: i do not own merlin**

Merlin followed the eight magicians into a small house in the lower town. All eight were obvious friends as they joked around with one another on the walk back from the clearing.

After Merlin had defeated the armored men, the six cloaked figures had come up to him, Ayra and Julie all asking who he was. Ayra had told them to hold off all questions until they got back, and so they had all promptly ignored Merlin up to this point.

The house they walked into now was small, but large enough for all nine of them to be in comfortably. There was a fireplace and a large table next to it, obviously made to sit many people. There was a door to another room in the back, probably the sleeping area and Merlin was surprised to see that the back wall of the house was made out of stone, unlike most peasant houses that were only made of wood.

"All right everyone, keep your voices down, Edith and Hern are sleeping in the next room" Ayra said as she sat in a chair near the already blazing fire.

Who are Edith and Hern? Merlin wondered. Are they magical? And do all of these sorceress liver here? And if so, do they expect him to live here also?

"Who is he?" asked a big dark man in a very deep voice shaking his head in Merlin's direction. All of the sorceress had taken off their hoods at this point so Merlin could clearly see their faces. The man who had just spoken had a heavily scared face and a hooped earring in his left ear. Everything about the man was big, and when he looked at Merlin, Merlin wanted to run away.

"This is Merlin" Ayra said, ignoring Merlin's discomfort as the large man continued to stare at him "When I went to take care of the assassin tonight, I was about to cast my spell when Merlin beat me to it and took care of him himself."

"Yes but who is he?" asked Julie

Merlin started as her voice was suddenly very feminine, unlike the voice he had heard back on the hill.

"Your voice is different!" Merlin said

Merlin's reaction elicited a smile from everyone in the room. "Yes we put a spell on our cloaks so that the hood completely hides our faces and changes our voices so it's impossible to know our identities." Ayra said "and to answer your question Julie, I know as little about Merlin as you do."

Suddenly everyone looked at Merlin, making him more uncomfortable, waiting for him to say something about himself.

"Well I'm Merlin…." Inwardly he winced 'they already know your name you idiot' he told himself "I'm Prince Arthur's man servant…."

Suddenly a man in the back started laughing. "The Prince's manservant is a sorcerer? Hahahaha and he doesn't know about it?" the brought out smiles from many of the others.

"Hey, one of the Prince's knights is a sorcerer and he doesn't even know it" another man that Merlin recognized said.

Merlin gasped "Sir Galahad? You're a sorcerer?"

Sir Galahad was one of Arthur's least important young knights. The man was completely loyal to the crown, but Arthur liked to take more experienced knights with him on his adventures than Galahad.

"Yes, but not a very powerful one." Galahad replied "But if I may, I'd like to vouch for Merlin. I know that he is completely loyal, and he might be a solution to our problem about the Prince."

"hmmm maybe" Ayra said thoughtfully scrutinizing Merlin with those piercing green eyes.

"But how do we know he is on our side?" asked the large man "we only have his word that he is a friend of Camelot. For all we know he might have been sent to infiltrate us by the witch sisters!"

Ayra smiled "well there is one way to tell. Come over here Merlin."

Ayra walked over to the stone wall and gestured for Merlin to come while giving him a small smile of encouragement. Merlin slowly walked over to the girl he had just met in the street only a few hours before, wondering what would happen.

When Merlin stood next to Ayra

"Now place your hand on that stone" Ayra said pointing to a stone in the middle of the wall.

Merlin gave her a confused look, but put his hand on the specified stone. Suddenly he felt the wall begin to shake. Merlin quickly took his hand off the stone and took a step backwards as he watched in awe as the stones rearranged themselves so that there was a gap in the wall about as big as a doorway. Suddenly torches lit on either side of the gap revealing a staircase.

"Well I think that about proves it" said Ayra happily.

:

Merlin followed Ayra down the stairs. Once the wall had revealed the staircase, the others had left for home (so they didn't live in this house) clearly satisfied that Merlin was a friend of Camelot.

Merlin went down the last step and entered a large room. There was a large table in the middle of the room and one wall had a map of Albion on it and there were amulets and charms on small tables all around the room.

"We call this the common room, it's where we hold our meeting and discuss strategy. Over there is the library" Ayra said as she pointed towards a doorway on the wall to the right of the staircase "Next to the library is the charm room, where we keep most of our charms. Our library is probably the greatest collection of books on magic in the world, while our charm room has more charms in one place than anywhere else in the world."

Merlin stared around him in amazement; he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Who are you people?" he whispered.

"We are the Amddiffyn, protectors of Camelot"


	4. Stories

**allright everyone here's the next chapter. I have some news though, it's bad news for me but i think it will be good news for you all. I'm sick, so that means i'm going to have lots of time to write. who knows maybe i'll probably even have the next chapter up by tonight? Anyway, this is another set up chapter. One more set up chapter and then well see some action I promise!**

**Disclaimer: i don't own merlin (although every time i write this sentence it depresses me so i'm going to try and correct this)**

Merlin sat down in one of the chairs by the table.

"Why?" Merlin asked "why would a sorcerer want to protect Camelot?"

"I can ask you the same question" Ayra sat as she sat next to Merlin at the table.

Merlin shook his head "I have to protect Arthur it's my…."

Merlin was interrupted by a loud scream from the library. Suddenly a girl came running out from the library. She ran up to Ayra with tear streaming down her face.

"Ayra oh Ayra thank everything you're ok! How many were injured, how many were dead? I was wrong Ayra, or not wrong since I was right up until you all left and they changed their plans! It's a trap! They're sending twenty more men to try and kill us all! Oh it's all my fault!"

Ayra grabbed the crying girl "Shhh Zoe calm down it's ok we took out the cart, Camelot is safe and everyone is ok. It's not your fault" Ayra said in a soft voice.

"Everyone is all right?" Zoe repeated

"Yes"

The girl sniffled "oh well ok then" she said as she instantly calmed down.

"Here Zoe, why don't you sit down and do some sewing?" Ayra said as she led Zoe to a chair in the corner with a basket next to it.

"Yes that would be nice" Zoe said absently as she sat down in the chair. Ayra took out a needle and some cloth and Zoe started to work feverishly.

Ayra sighed as she sat back down next to Merlin at the table.

"I'm sorry about that, Zoe is a bit eccentric. It's not her fault, she's a seer and she hasn't been able to control her powers since the accident."

"What accident?" Merlin asked

"Zoe didn't grow up in Camelot; she grew up in Cenred's kingdom where magic is allowed. Both of her parents were sorcerers and they taught her how to see into the future at a young age. But when she was twelve she lost control of a fire spell and accidently set her house on fire. The spell exhausted her and she was knocked out. The fire killed her parents and baby brother. Zoe never forgave herself so she came to Camelot knowing that here she could never use magic. But she lost control of her sight and now she sees all the time. It's driving her mad. I found her crying in the middle of the marketplace in the lower town and brought her back here. She mostly stays down here but when she feels up to it she goes upstairs and helps Edith with the housework."

"We all have a story, some of us like Zoe share them. Others like Leyendon Never tell them"

"Who is Leyendon?" asked Merlin

"Big, dark, muscular, with the earring, he was questioning you earlier."

"Oh" there was a pause for a minute before Merlin asked "so how did this all start?"

"Well the amddiffyn have been protecting Camelot for centuries. An old king of Camelot organized it as a temporary measure to protect his son on his death bed. It used to be that only the best sorcerers were part of the amddiffyn but now" Ayra shrugged "we just accept anyone who doesn't hate the king and has magic."

"But how did the amddiffyn survive the great purge?" Merlin asked

"It didn't" Ayra said "As Uther became more ruthless more sorcerers started to hate him and the wall wouldn't allow anyone into base anymore. And soon the amddiffyn was forgotten."

"But then how did you all know about it?" asked Merlin still not understanding.

"I was living with the Druids and Hern, the man who lives in the house upstairs with his wife Edith, told us about it. The Druids wanted to do nothing and leave base alone, but I decided to start the amddiffyn again. Julie and Leyendon came with me from the Druids camp and we found the others as we went along."

"But why would you want to help Camelot?"He asked

Ayra looked at him surprised, as if no one had ever asked her this before.

"When I was seven Uther burned my mother at the stake, my father had died before my first birthday. As they lit the pyre my mother cast a spell on me, it was very complicated and I didn't know what she was doing at the time. But I think she meant it to be a spell of protection. The only problem was my mother wasn't a very powerful magician. I like to think that casting the spell killed her rather than Uther. After my mother died I went to live with the Druids. A man named Geldor took me in, he was like a father to me. Geldor taught me how to forgive and love again. He also took in Julie after her Father died, so she's like a sister to me. Anyway about three months before Hern came, Geldor told me and Julie on his death bed the prophecy of the Once and Future king and Emrys. He told us that they had already met and a time of peace and prosperity is coming to Camelot, and I decided I want to make sure it comes." Ayra explained "so that's why I fight. I fight for the Once and Future King. I fight for Prince Arthur."

Merlin stared in amazement at Ayra. To think that he had inspired her into action. He knew that had a great destiny in helping Arthur but he had never really thought that others would fight with him for the great future he was destined to bring.

"Well" Merlin said "Those were almost exactly my reasons for fighting for Camelot."

Suddenly Zoe's head shot up and she looked at Merlin. Merlin saw that her eyes were gold as she said "Emrys".

Ayra sighed she didn't seem to notice the gold in Zoe's usually brown eyes "Yes Zoe we were talking about Emrys."

"No, Emrys" Zoe said blankly as she pointed a finger at Merlin.

Ayra studied Merlin as if seeing for the first time. "Are you Emrys?" she asked

Merlin smiled and put his hands up as if in surrender "Guilty as charged"

Ayra gaped at him "You're really Emrys?" she asked

"Ya, or at least that's what everyone keeps telling me" Merlin said

Ayra smiled "this is amazing, great!" Ayra jumped out of her chair "Do you know what this means? With the most powerful sorcerer of all time on our side not even the sister witches can prevent the crowned prince from fulfilling his destiny!"

"Wait, when you say sister witches, do you mean Morgana and Morgouse?" Merlin asked

Ayra looked surprised "you know them?" she asked

Merlin nodded, his countenance darkening "oh yes I know them both. Morgana and I used to be very good friends when she was Uther's ward. I was one of the first to know she had magic. And I've had many unpleasant encounters with Morgouse over the years."

"Really?" Ayra asked fascinated. She sat back in her chair "we never could find out the name of the second sister until now. I mean we all knew Morgana obviously. We were so afraid we had failed when she became queen." Ayra said softly

"That was certainly a hard time, especially for the Arthur. I don't think the king has fully recovered from her treachery yet, but at least he's back doing his duties as king." Merlin said

"It sounds like you know Arthur very well" observed Ayra.

"Well I am his manservant, I spend almost all of my time with him" Merlin said aloud but he didn't mention how Arthur and he had a relationship beyond that of servant and master. Merlin could easily call Arthur his best friend and he thought that Arthur thought the same, even though Arthur would never admit it.

"That's perfect!" Ayra exclaimed "that means that you can always be there to protect Arthur!"

"I already do that."

Ayra shook her head "No, you don't understand. Galahad has been trying to spend as much time with Arthur as possible but he's too young to be taken seriously as a knight yet."

Merlin smiled. Just the other day Arthur had commented on how Galahad has been acting oddly lately, always following him around and trying to get on his good side. Eventually Arthur had given him the job of guarding the throne room just to get him out of the way "Well at least he's in a good position to protect the king." He said aloud.

"Yes but we aren't here to protect the king." She said king with such hatred that Merlin jumped "our mission is to protect Arthur so he can fulfill his destiny."

"Yes, but if Uther is killed by magic than there is no way that Arthur will ever accept magic, so I've been protecting Uther too as well"

Ayra tilted her head to the side as she thought about what Merlin said "you're right. I'll tell Galahad to protect Uther as well as he can."

"I can tell him for you if you want since I'll be in the castle already" Ayra nodded and Merlin continued "so how did a sorcerer come to be a knight of Camelot?"

"Ayra shrugged "I don't know the details but Galahad's mother was a sorceress. Galahad's father managed to keep her alive through the purge since she had so little magic to begin with. But she had taught Galahad some magic before the purge." Ayra explained "he became a knight as was expected from a man of his social standing and now here he is."

"What about the others?" Merlin wanted to know "You said they all have a story. What are they?"

Ayra took a deep breath and sat back in her chair "Well Leyerdon I don't know much about. As I said he came to the druids about five months before Geldor died. He was always restless and looking for a fight. Every time that someone would insult Camelot in any way he reacted violently, so I brought him along when I started the amddiffyn again. Julie came with me because of our sisterly bond. Henry, the one who laughed earlier, is your typical sorcerer just hiding in plain sight. He and Julie fell in love and are now happily married. I already told you about Zoe and Galahad. Then there is Urlon and Rila who were enslaved by Cenred and think along the lines of the enemy of my enemy is my friend. And finally there is Kaitra. She doesn't like to talk about it much but she and a knight fell in love but the knight died in battle and Kaitra is happy knowing that her knight would want her to protect the land he died for.  
"Well Emrys, it's getting late and I would like to get to bed soon, so will you join the amddiffyn?"

**Well what did you think? please please please review. All reviews are welcome! If you like it tell me why, if you don't tell me why and i'll do my best to fix it! **


	5. Breaking Down Defenses

**I told you all I would have this next chapter up quickly. I'd like to thank everyone who has reviewed/favorited/alerted so far. They really do brighten my day and make me want to write more. **

**So basically more reviews = quicker chapters. This chapter is from Ayra's point of view (well i'm not using first person but so far we've heard what Merlin thinks but in this chapter we'll hear what Ayra thinks). This definitaly will give you guys a better understanding of her personality. **

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own merlin ... yet**

Ayra looked down the street again to where Merlin and Julie were talking. It had been about four months since the warlock had joined the Amddiffyn and he had been the best thing that could happen to the group. Not only was unbelievably powerful, but he also had a fun personality and everyone loved to be around him. At first Leyerdon had acted resentful towards Merlin as he started to take his spot as Ayra's second in command, but soon even Leyerdon came to like the goofy warlock.

Ayra quickly turned away from Merlin. Over the last four months she had caught herself staring at Merlin way too often. **I am a leader** she kept reminding herself **I have a goal, when Arthur is king then I can think about boys**. Many a time she felt envious of Julie, her and Henry always looked so happy whenever they were together. But Julie didn't have many responsibilities; Julie had an exceptional talent when it came to healing, but was useless when it came to anything else. Not that Ayra herself was very powerful, most of the other members were far more powerful than her, but there was an unchallenged agreement that she was the leader. Not only for restarting the Amddiffyn but also because she was smart.

She was good with tactics and thinking of the best course of action. Too often Ayra found herself plotting about Merlin. Which was the best way to do her hair that would make him notice? What could she say that would make him look at her with those beautiful dark eyes?

Ayra shook her head again and started to pretend to sew again. Ayra was useless at sewing, but the only job she could manage to find upon arriving in Camelot was that of an assistant seamstress. Mostly what she did was pretend to sew all day and then give Zoe her projects to work on at night. Zoe, even eccentric at times, could do amazing things with a needle, often going way beyond what Regalia, Ayra's boss, asked for. Another plus side was that sewing had a calming effect on Zoe, especially after she had a vision.

Ayra really didn't need a job since she slept in base with Zoe and didn't have to pay rent. But she gave her earnings to Hern and Edith. The elderly couples was too old to work anymore and even though they had enough money on the side to take care of themselves, there wasn't always enough money to feed the eleven hungry mouths from the group that was based in their basement on almost regular basis. Hern and Edith rarely saw their only two children. Their daughter had married a farmer and moved far from Camelot, and their son had become the apprentice of a carpenter, and while he still lived in Camelot he was usually too busy to come visit his parents. Ayra had met their son, Hindrick one time. Hern had told Hindrick about the Amddiffyn and one day Hern's title as guardian of base would one day be passed on to him. But Ayra wasn't sure that Hindrick was too pleased with the idea, so he tended to stay away.

Ayra found herself staring at Merlin again. Something he had said made Julie laugh. Julie was supposed to be selling the fruit that was grown by a rich nobleman that was laid out on a cart behind her. Julie was very good at her job and often gave members of the Amddiffyn free fruit as they passed by.

Ayra wished she could have heard what made Julie laugh. She wanted to go over and talk with them but she knew that Regalia would never let her go, even if she was only fake sewing.

Something about Merlin drew Ayra to him. She was surprised at how easily she had told him her story on that first night after he had helped them destroy a magical talisman that would start a plague in Camleot. Nobody from the Amddiffyn except Julie and possibly Henry knew about Geldor. Usually when asked the questions that Merlin had asked her she changed the topic quickly. And the other's stories? Those had been told to her in confidence. She couldn't believe that she had just blurted them out to a complete stranger like that, but there was something special about Merlin. Not just his magic, but something about him made her want to tell him everything. In one short week she had told him her biggest secret. Even though everyone in the Amddiffyn knew, for their safety, it had taken her months to trust any one of them enough to tell them.

After she had told Merlin about it she had expected to look at her as the others did, with fear. But all she could see in Merlin's eyes were compassion and sympathy.

:

After work that day, Ayra returned back to Edith and Hern's house cracking her fingers after a long day of fake sewing. In her left hand she carried the basket full of tasks for Zoe to do.

As Ayra walked into the house she saw Hern at his usually place by the fire as both Zoe and Edith prepared the evening meal.

Ayra smiled, happy to see that Zoe was feeling well enough to help Edith with the cooking. "Hello everyone" she said happily

"Hello Ayra" Zoe replied. Her face lit up as she saw the basket in her hand "Oh is that more sewing work you need done?"

Zoe would have made the perfect wife if she had control of her seeing abilities. She could sew, cook and was very beautiful. Zoe had a natural tan that no matter how many hours she spent in the sunless base would never go away, with chocolate long brown hair that curled slightly at the bottom and matching colored eyes, unless she was having a vision then her eyes were bright gold.

Ayra nodded "yes, I'll put it by your usual chair."

"All right" Zoe said "Oh and Merlin's down there he said the he and the Prince are going somewhere and he wants to talk to you about it."

Ayra's heart beat faster when Zoe said Merlin's name and she fought to keep her face neutral as she nodded, not trusting herself to speak.

She put her hand on the familiar stone wall and walked down the stairs into the base.

And there he was. Sitting at the table with his head stuck one of the many books on magic from the library. She smiled at how his face had lit up when she had brought him in there for the first time. Merlin had brought his own spell book down to base, offering to add it to the library, but it was decided that Gaius would be suspicious if Merlin didn't have it so Zoe made a copy for the library instead. Ayra knew that it killed Merlin not to tell Gaius about the Amddiffyn, he told Gaius everything. But as Ayra had told him before it no longer was only his secret to share, and the others felt that Gaius was too close to the king to be trusted with their secret.

Merlin looked up from the book he was reading as she came down the stairs and stood up and smiled at her. She loved it when he smiled at her like that.

"Hey Ayra, was just rereading a part in this book. It's all about how one sorcerer can lend some of his power to another. So during a fight I could lend let's say Kaitra some power if she was facing a very powerful sorcerer…" Ayra knew that Merlin loved learning about magic. If he wasn't doing errands for Gaius, Arthur, or saving Camelot with the Amddiffyn he was reading a book. She had often listened to rants for hours about something that Merlin read in a book. "But that's not what I'm here to talk about." Merlin said as he directed himself on track "Today some villagers from Welling had an audience with the king. They heard a fight in the woods the other night, one or two villagers went to investigate and guess what they saw?"

"Our fight with Morgouse and Morgana the other night?" Ayra guessed.

Merlin shook his head "I wish" He said "they saw a cloaked figure do some kind of spell into the trees. They didn't see Morgouse, Morgana or any of their men because by the time they arrived they had started to retreat."

"So the king thinks there is some sorcerer running around in the forest casting spells on trees?"

Merlin smiled "No, he thinks that a sorcerer is responsible for the twenty cows that got sick in Welling the next day."

"That's silly, why would a sorcerer want to do that?" Ayra asked not understanding the king's reasoning.

Merlin shook his head "that's what Arthur asked but Uther gave his usual **Magic is evil and sorcerers will do anything to hurt Camelot** speech and he has ordered Arthur to go find the sorcerer."

Ayra smiled "Little will either know that the sorcerer that actually cast that spell will be part of the searching party."

Merlin laughed "Ya, I just wanted to let you know that I'll be away for a while."

"For how long do you think?" Ayra asked

Merlin shrugged "Anywhere from two days to a week I would say. It depends on how soon they give up on their wild goose chase or if they decided that some innocent person from the village is really a sorcerer."

Ayra nodded "Well let's hope that Morgouse and Morgana don't plan anything to bad until you return."

Merlin nodded and started to say something then hesitated. Ayra looked at him questioningly as he seemed to gather his courage.

Merlin took a step closer to her looked into her eyes and said "I'm going to miss you while I'm gone."

Ayra felt her heart beat faster "I'll miss you to" she said without realizing she was saying it. No, she couldn't let herself be distracted by a boy; she had too many responsibilities to be distracted.

Merlin took another step towards her so that they were only a few inches apart "Ayra, what I'm about to do …. I hope it's all right with you" he said as he leaned closer

Ayra kept putting up defenses, tried to move her body away from his. Her brain was telling her to stop him, but her heart kept her body in place as he kissed her.

It was a short kiss. As she felt Merlin's soft lips on hers she felt all of her defenses crumble.

She looked up into his eyes "It's more than all right" she told him.

Merlin smiled that goofy smile that she loved so much, and bent down and kissed her again. This time Ayra kissed him back as she realized she never wanted him to stop.

**Well what did you guys think? i know that peanutbutterlover101 is very happy right now but what about the rest of you? did you like it? did you not like it? tell me! All reviews are welcome**

**Let me say this one more time **

**reviews = more chapters, quicker  
**


	6. Friendship

**Hey everyone, so I got an idea from my little shout out last chapter... I'm gonna dedicate my chapters to my favorite fans. *hint the more you review the more I like you***

**Ok so maybe I am bribing you all to review... is that really so terrible?**

**This chapter goes to: lilyplusjamesistotallove**

**Remember just because i dedicated one chapter you doesn't mean you can't get another, so keep reviewing lilyplusjamesistotallove!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin :(**

Prince Arthur of Camelot made this way through the lower town as he checked on things, or at least that's the excuse he gave his father for coming down to the lower town so often. The real reason was that he liked being closer to the people. He would stop and talk to the butcher about the weather and to the blacksmith about business. Even though everyone still treated him like a prince and didn't fully open up to him, he was rewarded for his efforts with the knowledge that he had the trust and loyalty of his people, something his father kept testing.

Well, almost everyone treated him like a prince. His manservant, Merlin, had a habit of forgetting his station and treating Arthur like everyone else. Not that it was such a bad thing Arthur thought. Arthur kind of liked the idea of someone treating him like a person rather than a person, it made him feel almost normal. Arthur would never admit it but Merlin was probably his only friend.

Well there were his knights but they always treated him with the formality that was required. Then there was Gwen, but Arthur liked to think that Gwen was more than a friend. And there _used_ to be Morgana.

Arthur sighed as he thought about his foster sister. Other than Merlin she was the only one who was able to look past his status as prince and be his friend, but she had betrayed them all. Arthur still couldn't believe it, but at least he had Merlin and Gwen to help him get over it. His father was still recovering from the shock, but at least Uther had assumed some of his old responsibilities again, taking the burden off Arthur's shoulders.

But basically Merlin was his only real friend.

Arthur stopped to talk with a merchant he was acquaintances with, again not friends, as he realized how hungry he was. He saw Merlin staring down the street at something, but try as he might Arthur couldn't see anything unusual.

"Merlin! Make yourself useful and buy me some lunch" Arthur commanded

Merlin had a funny looking smile on his face as he said "Of course sire" and walked away.

Arthur frowned; he didn't know why Merlin had looked so happy about doing Arthur's bidding instead of whining as usual.

Arthur dismissed Merlin's odd behavior as a thought for another time and started to chat to the merchant about the state of some of Camelot's outlying villages.

After a few minutes a customer came over to the merchant's stall so the merchant excused himself. Arthur turned around, expecting Merlin to be there waiting with his lunch, but to his surprise Merlin wasn't there.

Arthur started walking in the direction that Merlin had gone. He should have been back by now Arthur thought. Arthur marched down the street preparing to yell at his useless manservant when he stopped dead in his tracks.

Merlin was standing at the entrance of an alley near a sewing shop with Arthur's bread and cheese in hand ….. _Kissing a girl!_

Arthur was shocked. _Merlin was kissing a girl!_ A thousand questions popped into Arthur's head at once. The most predominant two: Who was this girl? And why hadn't Merlin told him?

They were friends right? Merlin should have told him about something like this if he really valued their friendship as much as Arthur thought he did. But as Arthur thought about it, the easier it was to think of other instances similar to this. Merlin had been acting happier than usual the last few weeks, from dancing with the broom the other day to humming as he prepared Arthur's bath this morning, and of course the ever present smile and daydreaming.

Why hadn't Arthur put it together? What other things about Merlin did he not know because of his obliviousness?

The more he thought about it, the more Arthur realized that his and Merlin's friendship was very one sided. Merlin knew everything about Arthur, from his secret relationship with Gwen to his favorite flavored breath mint. And what did Arthur know about Merlin? Obviously not a lot.

Arthur decided to let Merlin tell him about this girl himself, when he was ready. Arthur walked back to the merchant's stall, vowing to pay more attention to Merlin from now on and to figure out other details about Merlin's life.

:

As Merlin started to clear away Arthur's dinner dishes, his stomach made a noticeable growl. Of course Arthur remained oblivious to it, not even noticing that Merlin hadn't eaten since breakfast because the prince ate lunch on the go. Merlin looked out the window at the setting sun. It was getting late; luckily Arthur wanted to get up early to train so he would be going to bed soon. This was just fine with Merlin since he was supposed to be at Hern and Edith's for dinner tonight and there was an Amddiffyn meeting afterwards.

Merlin left the dishes in a neat pile on the table for him to grab as he left the Prince's chambers that night and went to get the Prince's night clothes.

The prince was sharpening his sword, a task he liked to do himself.

"Merlin" Arthur said

Merlin inwardly groaned thinking that Arthur was going to give him more chores as he thought of his list of chore spells. Since he had joined the Amddiffyn he had been doing most of his chores for Gaius and Arthur with magic.

"Yes Arthur?" Merlin asked

"So, tell me Merlin… what's been going on with you?" The prince asked awkwardly.

Merlin stood there stunned "What?" he managed to gasp

"You know…. What's up?"

"Up with what?" Merlin asked. Suddenly Merlin was scared, what if Arthur had walked into his chambers and seen the rag and bucket cleaning the floor itself? What if he knew that Merlin had magic?

Arthur sighed; extracting information from Merlin was harder than he thought "Meerliin I'm just asking about you is all"

Merlin gave Arthur a funny look "What do you want to know about me?" Merlin's heart was pounding in his chest. Oh god he knows he thought.

Arthur paused and sighed again "Fine, I'll just come out with it…. who was that girl you were kissing today?"  
Merlin had a hard time keeping the extreme relief he felt from his face, but then a new panic arrived. If Arthur saw him and Ayra together he could then link Merlin back to the Amddiffyn, and then find out about his magic.

Merlin turned around so that Arthur couldn't see the conflicting emotions on his face. "What girl?"

"Oh come on Merlin, I _saw_ you"

"Are you mad?"

"Mad? Why would I be mad?" Arthur laughed "I'm just glad you found a girl stupid enough to kiss you"

"Hey! At least girls kiss me!" Merlin retorted back

"Oh please I've been kissing Gwen for quite a bit of time now"

Merlin snorted "Ya right. First Gwen was a servant so it was unacceptable for you two to be together. Now that she's _Lady Guinevere _you still can't kiss her because it's unbecoming for a Lady of her station to kiss. Soooooooo much lip action Arthur"

Arthur grabbed the nearest thing, which was his goblet from dinner and threw it at Merlin "You're an idiot you know that Merlin?"

Merlin dodged the goblet "At least I'm not a prat"

Arthur smiled "You still haven't told me her name"

Merlin picked the goblet off the floor "Ayra, her name is Ayra."

:

Merlin walked into Edith and Hern's house and took off his cloak, automatically disengaging the spell that hid his identity.

"Merlin!" Ayra exclaimed as she got up to give him a quick kiss

"Oh come on guys keep it appropriate, there's a kid present!" Henry said

"What?" Merlin asked quickly looking around the room. Hern sat at the head of the table near the fire with Edith sitting next to him. Zoe sat between Edith and Henry. Julie sat next to Henry, with Galahad on her other side. Leyerdon sat on Galahad's other side, with the other head of the table empty where Ayra had been sitting before she came to greet Merlin. A seat was empty for Merlin next to her. Rila, with her raven hair and dark skin, sat next to Merlin's empty seat with Urlon, hunched over with his light brown hair and spectacles, on her other side. Then there was the blond hair blue eyed Kaitra. Exactly as they always sat, with no children. All of them sat there smiling at him, except for Kaitra who always looked sad.

"What's going on here?" Merlin asked smiling

"Julie's going to have a baby!" Zoe exclaimed unable to contain herself "Isn't it wonderful?"

"Congratulations!" Merlin exclaimed happy for his friends

They spent the rest of dinner laughing and talking about the baby. Merlin loved having dinner with the Amddiffyn; these were the only people he could truly be himself with. Even Kaitra, who always looked like she was about to cry, and Leyerdon, who always seemed so serious, cracked a smile or two as Henry made his usual jokes.

Suddenly Zoe's eyes turned gold, there was absolute silence for a minute, and then Zoe screamed.

She jumped out her chair and kept screaming "Noo!" over and over again. Tears ran down her face as Leyerdon and Henry practically lifted her into base before someone heard her.

"Looks like it was a bad one" Edith sighed "She was fine all day, even helped me cook most of this…" then she rose to clear the table.

"Well it was about time we started our meeting anyway" Ayra said as she followed the others into base.

"I'll be down in a minute" Julie said "I'll help Edith clean up."

Everyone silently got up and went down into base. Where laughter and merriment had resided a moment ago there was only dread.

:

Merlin walked into base to an unpleasant sight. Zoe was in the corner screaming, Leyerdon holding her down so she didn't hurt herself. Ayra was trying to comfort her, but to no avail.

Everyone sat down and waited for Zoe's vision to end. After about ten minutes, her screams were replaced by sobs as Leyerdon let go of her and Ayra hugged her, trying to soothe her with words of comfort.

The vision was over.

"Zoe, tell me what you saw" Ayra said soothingly

In between sobs Zoe chocked out "an army… it was terrible… the knights couldn't do anything because they had magic… the sister witches were leading them… sorcerers at least a thousand and they're gathering to march on Camelot as we speak."

**A little bit of a cliffhanger for you all to ponder :)**

**I have to say I really enjoyed writing this chapter, I think I'm going to do a lot more Merlin/Arthur stuff.**

**Remember to keep reviewing! Even if you didn't like it i want to know why! **

**and who knows maybe the next chapter will be yours? **


	7. Trouble Within

**Hey guys sorry for not updating for a while but i've been super busy. Thank goodness for the snow day today or I woudln't even have this up. I know it's short, but it's better than nothing right?**

**This chapter goes to: aigneadh **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin :(**

Merlin looked at Ayra as she walked back into the common room from where Zoe's and hers room behind the library where Zoe was now resting. Ayra wore her worry plain on her face for she wasn't the type of leader who hid anything from her followers, but Merlin also saw that even only minutes after the event, Ayra was already planning.

Ayra stood in front of her chair at the head of the table and looked at each member of the Amddiffyn.

"Well it looks like we have an army of sorcerers on its way to Camelot" she said "Zoe says she saw a conversation between Morgouse and another sorcerer. Rather than a thousand sorcerers, there actually seven hundred and they should be in Camelot in about three weeks. Zoe says that as the future is now, Camelot will fall but we all know how easily the future can change."

Henry whistled "seven hundred. Where did Morgouse and Morgana manage to find seven hundred sorcerers? Most of the remaining sorcerers are Druids and they are pacifists!"

"The Druids are pacifists, but many of the people they shelter are not." Leyerdon said matter of factly.

Ayra nodded "I suspect that most of this army is made up of sorcerers hiding from Uther who want freedom. According to what Zoe saw Morgouse is finding hidden communities in the forest who have had no contact with the outside world for years."

"What will we do Ayra?" asked Rila

Ayra sighed. Merlin knew that now Ayra was feeling the full responsibility of being in charge and put his on hers, glad that he wasn't in her position.

"I don't know yet. I have to think on it" She said

"Ayra it's seven hundred to eight. The odds are impossibly in their favor and without our best healer our odds are even lower." Henry said

"I know Henry, but we have to ….. What do you mean without our best healer?" Ayra asked

"Julie is not going to fight. I will not risk my child's life for anything, including Camelot"

Ayra huffed "You guys have chosen a terrible time to start a family" Merlin saw Ayra had her thinking face on again as she thought about how to convince Henry to allow Julie to heal.

"There would never be a good time to start a family Ayra! If it's not an army of sorcerers, it's an army of the undead or Morgouse and Morgana trying to poison the harvest. There is always a new problem that would be in the way."  
"Yes, but this is by far our biggest problem yet. And what if it's you who is injured, Henry, and Julie could have saved you" asked Ayra "Do you want your child growing up without a father?"

"Better to live without a father than to not have lived at all" Henry retaliated

"But what about the rest of us? Henry, you may be willing to risk your own life but would you risk all of ours?"

"Stop!" Merlin yelled as he stood from his chair. He knew he had to find a compromise soon. The Amddiffyn could not afford to be divided in a time of crisis.

"Look, why don't we compromise" Merlin said rationally "Julie can stay here at base during fights and if someone is injured I can transport them here so Julie can heal them"

"Merlin, would you be able to do that and fight at the same time?" asked Galahad

Merlin shrugged "I think so. I've always been good at transportation spells. It shouldn't be too difficult" the stares of awe around the table made Merlin uncomfortable.

But Henry crossed his arms stubbornly "But what kind of effect will Julie's magic have on the baby. I've seen Julie push herself to the limit healing you all and I don't want that kind of strain on her body while my baby is in there"

Before either Merlin or Ayra could respond, Julie softly said "Henry" everyone looked at her but Julie kept her eyes on her husband "Henry, I could never forgive myself if something happened to any member of the Amddiffyn and I could have helped. Healing is the only think I'm good at. It's the only way I contribute to the group. I want to be able to help"

Henry sighed "I just don't' want anything to happen to you or the baby"

"I know" Julie said "but we'll be safe here at base during all the fights"

Henry nodded. Ayra took this as his consent and said "Ok well that's settled. Now not that I don't trust Zoe, but I need confirmation on the army and more details about numbers and when they will be here. Leyerdon and Urlon?" Both men nodded "Good, I want you to set out at once. We'll see if Zoe can pinpoint the army's location on a map. Everyone else go home and get some rest. We'll meet again once Leyerdon and Urlon have returned and I have some plan options."

Everyone stood to leave except Merlin, Urlon and Leyerdon. Ayra went into the library to get Zoe.

Merlin stayed behind because he knew that Ayra would want to talk about everything that had happened that night.

:::::::::

Ayra slumped into the chair next to Merlin, who had dozed off as she had helped Zoe find a general spot for the army to be located, and had seen Urlon and Leyerdon off. She was glad he had stayed. She needed to sift through all this new information with someone.

"Merlin" she said as she lightly touched his hand

Merlin jumped and saw Ayra and smiled "Well I must be still dreaming because I think I'm in the presence of an angel"

"Merlin stop it, we have serious things to talk about" Ayra said aloud but secretly she loved that Merlin had called her an angel.

"Of course your right. Who would have thought Julie getting pregnant just when we need her most?" Merlin said

"Merlin, they've been married for a year now. It's only natural that they have a baby. This is exactly why I told you we have to wait. Could you imagine if I was pregnant during a situation?"

Merlin sighed this was not the first time they had had this argument "Yes, but Ayra you're thinking about this too much. Love isn't a problem that you can think your way through."

"Merlin, you have no idea how hard it was to ignore all rational thought and let you into my life. Just please let's wait until Arthur becomes King."

Merlin sighed again "He won't ever become king if we don't stop this army. I saw you thinking earlier. What plans do you have so far?"

"I don't know honestly. No matter what angle I look at it from, it seems like all odds are in their favor. The only solution I can think of is having an army ourselves. And we can't just leave the knights of Camelot to fight them without magical protection. They would be massacred" Ayra said.

"What are you saying?" Merlin asked

"I'm saying that the only solution I can see is fighting side by side with Uther's army."

**Hope you all liked it. remember to review! If even if you didn't like I want to know why!**


	8. An Audience With The King

**Hey Everyone! I've actually had this written for a couple days now, but I had no chance to edit it and felt bad so this is directly off the ipod people. Usually I write in my ipod notes and as I type it up I edit it, but this time i did a quick read through and now here it is.**

**Please tell me if you guys see any mistakes (I promise you'll find at least 2719181829w3892189719) **

**Enjoy!**

**This chapter goes to: Charlieee**

**Disclaimer: I do not own merlin :(**

Ayra took deep breaths to calm herself as she waited outside the kings throne room. Ayra was scared and she had every right to be. Within 24 hours she and many people she loved could be dead. Leyerdon and Urlon had returned late the other night from their scouting expedition. They has provided her with everything she had requested and more. The two men had actually infiltrated the camp by pretending to want to join the army. In their four days at the sorcerers camp they had to manage to find out the exact number of sorcerers: 734

"But that's not all" Urlon had said while reporting to Ayra " I don't think they will start to march for Camelot for quite some time"

"Why not" ayra had asked

Urlon smiled "because they can't attack Camelot with all of their soldiers sick "

Ayra had looked quizzically at Leyerdon for an explanation and saw that even Leyerdon who never smiles was smiling.

"We poisoned their water supply as we left" he said

After explaining that they had simply put in a potion that made men sick rather than something that killed them Urlon and Leyerdon finally gave Ayra their full report.

Ayra had spent all of that day thinking of plans. But she couldn't think of anything that didn't involve collaborating with Uther.

That night at the Amddiffyn meeting she had explained her plan to the group. After each member had a chance to protest Ayra had said calmly

"Well it's either that or we let Camelot fall "

"Well why do you have to do it" Merlin had asked "let me do it. Arthur already trusts me"

Ayra shook her head "no Merlin after this is over were going to need you back in your position as Arthur's manservant so you can protect him"

Almost every other member had offered to take her but she had refused knowing that for her plan to work that she would have to be the one to do it.

A Page came to where she was sitting to tell her that the king would see her now. Ayra knew that the king would see her quickly since she had mentioned sorcery but she hadn't expected him to be this quick.

Ayra took one more deep breath and followed the page into the king's throne room unsure if she would leave it alive.

((:))

Merlin stood next to Gaius in the king's throne room. He had known that this would happen but when the servant had come to Arthur's chambers saying that the king needed him in the throne room his heart still sank. Merlin had hoped that Ayra would be too scared to go along with it but he knew that she was no coward and do what it took to save Camelot.

That didn't mean that he had to like it.

A page lead Ayra into the throne room. She held her high like she was one of the ladies of the court. She was wearing her nicest dress which didn't compare to those of the ladies of the court but Merlin still thought Ayra was more beautiful than all of them put together.

Ayra walked up to the king and bowed. Merlin was staring at her so intently that he missed the look that Arthur gave him.

"Rise "the king demanded so Ayra did "tell me. You say you know the identity of a sorcerer"

"Yes your majesty that's what I said but I actually know the identity of ten sorcerers but I am here to only you the identity of one "Ayra said

Uther shifted in his chair so that he was glaring at Ayra but the girl didn't give any signs of discomfort

"you will tell me the names of all of the sorcerers that you know or I will arrest you for harboring a sorcerer for which the penalty is death "

To everyone in the rooms surprise except for Merlin Ayra smiled at that

"I will only tell you the name of one sire "

Uther leaned back in his throne obviously thrown by the girl in front of him who smiles at death threats "well I suppose that's a start. But I will get all 10 out of you. Who is the sorcerer who you are willing to tell me about" he asked

"I am"

((:))

Arthur stared in shock at the girl in front of him. Unable to believe that she had just sentenced herself to death as his father yelled

"Guards arrest her!"

"Wait my lord please I have more to say"

"Ignore her. You are found guilty o sorcery for which the only punishment is death tomorrow you will burn at the stake"

Arthur looked over at Merlin to see how he was taking the news that the woman he loved is a sorcerer. Well at least the girl he had kissed, Arthur and Merlin hadn't talked about Ayra since that awkward conversation in Arthur's chambers.

Merlin's gaze was locked on Ayra his eyes full of pain and his fists bunched into fists. Arthur felt that for his friend's sake he should at least hear what Ayra had to say.

"Stop" Arthur commanded the guards grabbing Ayra

Everyone in the throne room especially his father was staring at Arthur in shock

"Arthur what is the meaning of "the king started to ask

"Father she said she has more information about other sorcerers we must hear everything she has to say "Arthur said

"But Arthur she's a sorceress she doesn't have any real information she's going to lie" Uther yelled

"Then why would she be here "Arthur asked rationally. Arthur turned to Ayra before his father could say anything "continue"

Ayra looked at Arthur curiously for a moment before saying

"I am not lying my lord. Nor will what I say next be a lie. I am the leader of a secret origination of sorcerers that has been in existence for centuries for the sole purpose of protecting Camelot. Recently we received Intel that Morgouse and Morgana "Ayra ignored the kings flinch at the mention of his ex ward and continued "have been creating an army of approximately 730 sorcerers that will try and attack Camelot. I unfortunately can't say exactly when because their original attack date was going to be six days from now but my men have managed to delay them so we have maybe two weeks to prepare"

"This is obviously some kind of trick. You wish to see Camelot panic so you can take advantage of it "Uther said

"Your majesty think about it, what could I possibly gain from Camelot being at its most secure" Ayra asked

"She has a point father "Arthur said

Uther glared at him "she's a sorceress there is no truth to her words "

"My lord please I beg that you only send out a patrol to test the truth in what I say. "

"No I will not do the bidding of a sorceress "Uther spat

"Father what if she's telling the truth we owe it to the people to at least look into a threat of this magnitude" Arthur said

Uther thought about it for a moment before saying "you are right Arthur have some scouts check to see if this army exists"

"Sire, I can show you the general area the army should be in "Ayra said

Uther glared at her "yes but what I fail to see is why shouldn't I

burn you at the stake"

Arthur was about to object that the girl had just brought them valuable information how could his father want to kill an obvious friend to the kingdom but Ayra beat him to it

"Because my lord "she said "you need me. Without me and my men you will face an army of 700 sorcerers without any protection from their magic. Protection that I can provide. trust me your majesty I have thought this matter over very carefully and there is no way that

either of us could beat this army alone "

Uther looked at the girl in front of him for a full minute before he said "put her in the dungeons"

"Should we prepare a pyre my lord?" asked a guard

"No" the king said "at least not yet. Let's see if this army actually exists before we do"

**Remember to review! even if you just happened to see a mistake somewhere please post it, and maybe while you have the review thing up you could send some love? even if you didnt like it tell me why constructive critisism is always appreciated!**


	9. Boots and Serious Conversations

**Hey guys. I know this is a really short chapter, but for the story to go the way I want to it has to be. I know I havent updated in a while and i'm sorry. i've been super busy and I had a really hard time writing this. I'll probably have the next one up really soon, so watch out for it!**

**This Chapter goest to: FireChildSlytherin5**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin :(**

Arthur entered his chambers after sending the patrol to find the supposed army to find Merlin cleaning his boots on the floor.

"Merlin" Arthur said tentatively. He wasn't sure how Merlin was feeling right now. The woman he loved had just admitted to being a sorcerer. Arthur couldn't imagine what he would do if Gwen turned out to be a sorcerer. Would he still love her? She would still be the same Guinevere, but at the same time she wouldn't be.

"Yes sire" Merlin asked without look up at the Prince. The only indication that anything was the matter was Merlin calling Arthur sire.

"Are you all right?" Arthur asked

Merlin paused "Of course I'm all right. Why wouldn't I be?"

Arthur sat next to Merlin on the floor "Merlin, Ayra was just convicted of being sorcerer. You have every right to be upset right now.  
Merlin finally looked up at Arthur. Instead of the sadness and betrayal he expected to see in Merlin's eyes, Arthur saw only shock.

"You…. You remember Ayra?" Merlin stumbled

"Of course I do Merlin. She's the girl you were kissing last week." Arthur frowned as he saw the shock in Merlin's eyes turn to fear.

Merlin quickly looked back down at the boot he was cleaning. "I thought you were too much of a Clotpole to remember things"

Arthur smiled "Me being a Clotpole, which I'm not, does not mean that I can't remember things Merlin!"

"Of course not, it just means you're a prat"

"Merlin you do realize you're talking to royalty? You can't talk to me this way."

"I'm sorry Arthur, you are right of course you are not a prat….. You're a _royal_ prat. That's much worse."

"Well at least I'm not a complete idiot!" Arthur retorted back.

Merlin shook his head "I'm not an idiot"

Arthur huffed "Merlin, you're probably the biggest Idiot in all of Camelot for thinking that calling me a Clotpole will distract me from our previous conversation."

Merlin's smile disappeared and we went back to cleaning Arthur's boot.

Suddenly a thought struck Arthur "Merlin, you didn't know about this before right?" he asked.

Merlin didn't say anything for a moment and Arthur felt a chill creep into his heart. Merlin wouldn't do this to him. There was no way his goofy manservant could hide something of this magnitude from him… Could he? Arthur reminded himself that it was only a week ago that he realized how little he actually knew about Merlin.

"No" Merlin eventually said still not looking at Arthur "I didn't know"

Arthur put his hand on Merlin's shoulder "I'm sorry Merlin. If … If you ever, well, want to talk about it, I'm here." Arthur said awkwardly.

Merlin looked up at him with tear filled eyes "thanks Arthur" he said he quickly looked back down at the boots.

Arthur nodded and stood up. Merlin obviously wasn't ready to talk about it, Arthur doubted that Merlin even knew himself how he was feeling.

"Oh and Arthur" Merlin said. Arthur turned to face his manservant "Thank you for listening to Ayra earlier… in the throne room. If it's not too much to ask, could you just keep an open mind about what she says in the future?"

Arthur stared at Merlin. He couldn't believe that he was still trying to protect Ayra. She was a sorcerer!

"You still love her?" he asked

Merlin nodded "Yes"

"But she's a sorcerer Merlin! She's been lying to you all this time, she's not the girl you fell in love with. She's evil!"  
Merlin stared at the prince for a minute before saying "I know she's a sorcerer but, she's still Ayra… Still the same girl I feel in love with. Her having magic doesn't change who she is. She's still a good person, I mean; doesn't the fact that she protects Camelot prove it? Uther has killed thousands of her kind, yet she still finds enough forgiveness in her heart to overlook Uther's evils and put the people of Camelot first. So to answer your question, I do still love her and I don't think that I could ever stop loving her."

Merlin was right, of course. Ayra's actions proved that she was good. But was it possible for a sorcerer to be good? Everything he had ever been taught said no, yet his heart said yes. The conflicted prince sat down to think it over, while his manservant just stared for a moment and went back to cleaning his master's boots. Both men lost in thought.

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	10. Making It Work

**Two chapters in one day, am I the best writer ever or what? Told you guys I would have this one up quickly. Enjoy!**

**This chapter goes to: DinosaursgoRawr101**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin :(**

Arthur walked into the throne room where his father had summoned him.

"Father" he said to announce himself as he bowed.

"Arthur" the King said "your patrol returned a few minutes ago"

"And did they find the army of sorcerers?"

The king sat down in his throne "Yes, they did. Sir Leon estimates about 700 men, like the sorcerer said. But also reports that most of them seemed too ill to fight."

"Ill sire?" Arthur asked "How could that happen?"

"I don't know Arthur. Hopefully the sorcerer will have some answers. I'm having her brought up from the dungeons now."

A moment later the doors opened and Ayra walked into the room in chains guided by Sir Gawaine and Sir Elyan, who were guarding the dungeons. No matter how hard Arthur tried to persuade his father, Uther would not overlook the fact that Gawaine, Elyan, Lancelot, and Percival were commoners and only allowed them to have lowly jobs such as guarding the dungeons. Arthur wanted to take them all on all of his missions, especially Lancelot, but his father would not allow it. Uther only allowed the four to keep their knighthood because they fought off the immortal army with his son.

"Hello my lord" Ayra said "I see that your men have confirmed the fact that an army is indeed headed for Camelot?"

"Yes they have" Uther replied "But my men also tell me that most of them are too sick to fight"

Ayra smiled "Still? That means they haven't found the source yet, which gives us more time to prepare Camelot for their attack" when Ayra saw Arthur and Uther's uncomprehending expressions she continued "My men poisoned their water supply so that they anyone who drank it would become sick to buy more time. Otherwise the army would already be here."

"That was smart" Arthur said

"Well I can't take credit for it; it was my man's idea. I sent them to check on the army and they give me an extra few weeks to prepare" Ayra said

"Well we best make use of this extra time then" Uther said "Sorcerer I will accept your help and the help of your men for the defense of Camelot. But all of you have still committed treason by practicing magic, so after we have defeated this army I will prosecute you all."

Ayra thought for a moment before agreeing "All right"

Uther nodded "I wish to speak to all of your men. Bring them back here in an hour's time. Release her" he ordered.

Ayra bowed "My lord" and walked out of the throne room.

"Leave us" Uther said after the sorcerer had left to Gawaine and Percival. The two men bowed and left the King and Arthur alone.

The king rubbed his temples "700 sorcerers, how could have I missed 700 sorcerers?"

"Father you can't blame yourself, I'm sure most of these sorcerers are from outside the kingdoms borders."

"Yes, I'm sure you're right Arthur. But I hate to stoop so low as to accept the help of sorcerers."

"I know how you feel Father, but Ayra was right, we couldn't defend ourselves against their magic."

Uther nodded "I know. After this all over I will burn all the members of this Amddiffyn at the stake and we will have killed all of the other sorcerers and Camelot will once again be free of magic."

"Actually Father I was thinking, couldn't we give the members of the Amddiffyn a lighter sentence such as banishment? I mean they are fighting for Camelot and they might not fight as hard if they only have death to look forward to if they win this battle." Arthur said

Uther shook his head "No Arthur. There are no exceptions to the law, they all must die."

Arthur saw that his father would not change his mind "As you say sire" Arthur said with a bow.

:

Arthur stood next to his father's throne an hour later as ten cloaked figures entered the room. One stepped forward and pulled off her hood and Arthur recognized Ayra.

"My lord" Ayra said as she and the Amddiffyn bowed "I brought my men as you requested"

"Yes I see. Remove your hoods" Uther ordered to the other members of the Amddiffyn.

None of the cloaked figures moved.

"I'm sorry My Lord but we wish to keep their identities a secret, it is the only way they will fight."

"This is ridiculous; remove your hoods by order of your king!" Uther yelled

Ayra shook her head "I'm sorry sire, but they will not."

"Then I will make them!" Uther declared "Guards take off their hoods!"

Before the guards could get to the cloaked members though, one of the figures stepped forward and put his arm out

"_**gadael i neb fynd drwy**_" he said as a sphere surround the Amddiffyn so that the guards could not reach them.

Ayra crossed her arms "I'm sorry my lord but their identities _will_ remain secret"

"They will reveal themselves or I will not accept your help!"

Arthur saw that Ayra was angry, and their seemed to be something dangerous about her when she was angry. He wasn't sure if it wasn't a trick of the light but it seemed like her eyes were slowly turning red.

"That would be Camelot's loss not ours!" She said in a strong voice

Before the king could respond the figure who had produced the shield walked up to Ayra and put a hand on her shoulder

"Ayra calm down" he said in a deep voice.

Ayra glared at the hooded figure

"Ayra you're losing control. Calm down" he commanded

Ayra continued to glare for a moment before she closed her eyes and took a deep breath and once again faced the king and the prince. Arthur noticed that her eyes were no longer red.

"I'm ok, I have it under control" she told the figure still holding her shoulder.

The figure let go of Ayra and stood back in the line of hooded figures. Arthur tried to see beyond the hood but he could not see anything on the man's face.

"My lord" Arthur shifted his attention back to Ayra "Many of these people are completely normal except for their magic. They have families, jobs and lives which they do not want to risk. I'm afraid that they will only fight for Camelot if their identities remain secret."

Uther glared at Ayra but finally consented "Fine, they can hide their faces." He said

Ayra bowed "Thank you my Lord"

"But let me remind you all, that after we have defeated this army I will hunt you down and burn you at the stake."

"We didn't expect anything less my Lord" Ayra said

"Good" Uther said "The council will meet in half an hour; I will expect you all to be there"

"My lord, if it is all right with you, I will represent all of my men in the war council." Ayra said

"Fine. Now leave me" Uther commanded

Everyone bowed to the king and walked out of the throne room.

Arthur jogged to catch up to Ayra, who was walking away with the rest of the Amddiffyn. "Ayra, can we talk for a minute?" he asked

"Of course my lord" she said.

But when she didn't move Arthur asked

"Alone?"

"Oh of course sire"

Arthur pulled her into a deserted hallway.

"Look Ayra, I know that my father had decided that he will kill you all after the army had attacked, but my father and I disagree on this matter. Because we do not know the rest of your men I doubt we will be able to find them, which is probably the real reason you don't want us knowing their identities. But my father knows who you are and where to find you. So what I'm saying is that… after this is all over I'm willing to help you escape my father's persecution if you promise to keep protecting Camelot." Arthur said

Ayra looked at Arthur for a moment before saying "My lord you have yourself a deal"

**Well what do you guys think? Did you like it? did you not like it? tell me why!**

**I love every review, even if it's negative!**


	11. Preparations

**Sorry for the late update! I've been super busy. **

**I'd like to dedicate this chapter to Dawn that Shines**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin :(**

Merlin walked towards Henry, who stood on the other side of the training field with tons of swords and shields all around him. Henry was enchanting the swords so they could pass through basic magical shields and cut through some spells, and the shields to block most basic spells. It was a difficult spell and Henry could only enchant three weapons at a time, and even then he had to take constant breaks.

"Hello Joker, how are the enchantments coming along?" Merlin asked in a voice that wasn't his own. Merlin hated how the spell on his cloak changed his voice, but it was necessary or someone could recognize it.

"Terrible Emrys, I've been working on this batch all day and I'm barely a third done. The armory keeps making too many weapons and I can't keep up with it," Henry replied, using Merlin's codename. Five days ago when they had started to prepare for the battle, the Amddiffyn had realized that they couldn't call each other by their real names, so Ayra came up with the idea of using code names.

"Here let me help," Merlin said. He pointed his palm towards the hundreds of shields and swords on the ground and said, "_**bloc hud gan anafu yw'r perchennog yr arf," **_and enchanted half of the remaining weaponry.

"Thanks Emrys, you just saved me hours of work. How's training going?" Henry asked.

Merlin shrugged, "It's all right, the knights are starting to get the hang of fighting against magic, but I'd like them to be better before the battle. The knights love fighting against Knives and Fire," Merlin said reffering to Leyerdon and Galahad, "Because they fight with sword and a little magic, where as I fight with only magic."

Henry laughed, "Ya, I've watched you make a fool of all of them more than once with just a flick of your wrist."

Merlin smiled, thinking of how only minutes ago he had made Arthur fall face first in the mud with little effort, "Yes, but their determind. Luckily for them most sorcerers aren't as powerful as me."

Henry snorted, "Emrys, I doubt that there is a more powerful sorcerer than you anywhere."

Merlin was about to reply when a servant came up to him and said, "Emrys sir, Star, Moon and Sun need your help on the battlements," referring to Urlon, Kaitra and Rila.

"Well I guess I'll see you later then," Henry said, "Feel free to stop by later, enchanting weapons isn't nearly as fun as it sounds."

Merlin smiled, "I'll try," he said and turned to the servant, "lead the way."

Merlin followed the servant up to the battlements to where Urlon, Rila and Kaitra were working on Camelot's defenses. During the battle the three of them were going to put up a shield that prevented anyone with magic that wasn't 'tagged' from entering the city's walls. This way the army of sorcerers would be forced to fight Camelot's army on open ground and on horse back, which gave the knights an advantage. It was a very complicated spell and required that the three sorcerers draw runes on the city's walls.

The walls of camelot now looked like a giant toddler had closed his eyes and painted random lines all over the city's walls. But if one looked closely, one could see a pattern of lines and symbols that would later feed power into the spell.

"Emrys, thank goodness you're here!" Rila said as Merlin arrived, "We're trying to recite the spell to activate this rune, but none of us are powerful enough do you think you could..."

"Of course," Merlin cut Rila off, "What's the spell?"

"_**Gadael dim ond ychydig y marcio pasio. Pob un arall yn cael eu gwahardd. Gadw'r ddinas yn ddiogel rhag niwed," **_Urlon said.

Merlin walked towards the rune that the other three had drawn, placed his hand in the center, and exlaimed, "_**gadael dim ond ychydig y marcio pasio. Pob un arall yn cael eu gwahardd. Gadw'r ddinas yn ddiogel rhag niwed!"**_

The runes flashed the brilliant gold of Merlin's magic before returning to the same red color as the other runes. Merlin lent against the wall and took a deep breath in an attempt to make the world stop spinning. He had performed two powerful spells in the last five minutes and it was taking its toll on him.

Merlin left Urlon, Rila, and Kaitra to start the next rune and decided to check on Gaius and Julie who were creating healing potions, magical and nonmagical, for the injured during the battle.

Merlin headed towards Gaius's chambers but stopped dead in his tracks as he heard a familiar voice shout "_Merlin!"_

Arthur turned the corner, "Merlin, where have you... oh I'm sorry Emrys. Have you seen my manservant Merlin?" he asked.

Merlin shook his head, "No I haven't," he replied. Great, he thought, now I have to attend to Arthur.

"If you see him could you tell him that I'm looking for him?" Arthur requested.

Merlin nodded and Arthur went on his way, mubling about idiots.

Merlin sighed as he walked into a deserted room to magically change his clothes and go attend to Arthur. He was happy to help Camelot, but why did everyone have to depend on him?

::

Arthur stormed into his chambers. He had searched the entire castle for his gangly manservant to no avail. Merlin was useless on the best of days, but Camelot was about to be attacked and Arthur needed his armor cleaned and sword sharpened. What if the army of sorcerers attacked while the prince didn't have his sword sharp? Camelot could fall because Arthur wasn't at his best because he had a lazy manservant.

He stopped short as he saw Merlin cleaning his armor.

"Merlin where have you been?" the prince yelled, "I've been looking for you everywhere! You do realize that Camelot is about to be attacked?"

"Sorry sire but I've been so busy. I've been helping families from the outlying villages who came into Camelot for protection, and then Gaius and Jewls," Merlin said refering to Julie, "have been making potions nonstop in prepartation for the battle. And do you know how fast those two go through herbs? I mean I'm in the forest collecting herbs at least three times a day! Plus on top of all that the Amddiffyn asks me to do things for them and..."

"Why would the Amddiffyn ask you to do things for them? There are plenty of other more capable servants in Camelot?" Arthur interupted Merlins well rehearsed speech.

"Well... Ummm... You see... I think that... they ... ummmm..." Merlin said obviously trying to think of an excuse, "feel more comfortable with me."

"They feel more comfortable with you?" Arthur asked doubtfully crossing his arms.

"Yes," Merlin said "because... of my relationship with Ayra! Yes because of Ayra."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Well how should I know why they feel the way they do? All I know is that they keep asking me to do things for them."

Arthur wasn't fully satisfied with Merlin's excuse but he didn't have time for Merlin. "Fine, take my armor and sword to the armorer and have a maid do my laundry and clean my room. Go off and pick herbs or whatever it is you're doing."

Merlin smiled in relief, "Thanks Arthur"

"But Merlin," Arthur said, "I expect you back at your normal duties once we defeat this damn army of sorcerers!"

"Of course sire," Merlin said as someone knocked on the door.

"Get that will you Merlin?" Arthur said as he changed his dirt covered shirt.

Merlin openend hte door for another servant "Yes?" he asked

"I have a message for Prince Arthur" the servant said

"What is it?"

"A group of sorcerers have been sighted riding for Camelot."

Merlin frowned "But i thought they weren't going to attack for atleast another three days."

The servant shrugged, "I don't know," he said, "I just know that the enemy is riding for Camelot."

::

Arthur entered the courtyard where his father stood with Ayra on the stairs. The gates had been closed and many of his knights were in the courtyard ready to defend Camelot.

"What's the situation Father?" the Prince asked.

"There is a small group of sorcerers approaching. We believe them to be a decoy so i have everyone in battle positions." The king replied.

Arthur was about to reply when he heard hoof beats coming towards the courtyard. Within seconds he could see the sorcerers through the gate.

"Uther Pendragon!" called out one of the sorcerers.

"What do you want sorcerer?" Uther spat in reply.

The sorcerer ignored the hatred in Uthers tone, "We have heard you are allowing sorcerers to aide you in protecting Camelot. Is this true?" the sorcerer asked.

Uther frowned, "Yes it is true."

"And is it true that Emrys is among them?"

Uther's frowned deepened, "What does that have to do with..." Uther began but Ayra cut him off

"Yes it is true, the mighty Emrys fights for Camelot," she said.

The sorcerers' eyes widened in amazement, "Is it really him," the leader asked, "Is it really the Emrys from the prophecies?"

"Yes."

The sorcerers dismounted and kneeled, "Then Camelot has nothing to fear from us."

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	12. Mind Games

**I dont know about you guys, but I am extreamly proud of myself for finding the time to write this during the week! I loved all of the reviews from chapter 11 that i felt obligated to write faster (hint hint hint hint hint). I know you readers are out there and not reviewing! I see the story alerts and favorites (not that I dont love them) but taking three seconds to say yay or nay isn't going to kill you!**

**This chapter goes to: FireChildSlytherin5 **

**Disclaimer: I don't own merlin :(**

Ayra had taken over the situation. She had ordered the guards to open the gates, then for everyone to return for their normal routine, or as normal as preparing for a battle could be.

Arthur wondered when the men had started taking orders from Ayra. Sure she and his father were almost inseparable, and her advice was invaluable in the war council, but since when did that give her the right to order his men?

Not that Arthur minded all that much at the moment, since he had no clue what was happening. To him Emrys was just another one of Ayra's sorcerers. A powerful sorcerer, but there didn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary about him.

The sorcerers were now in the middle of the courtyard with Ayra while Arthur and his father were still on the stairs. His father, Arthur noticed, was standing as tall and proud as possible as he glared down at the sorcerers in front of him in an attempt to seem intimidating. But the confusion in his eyes softened the effect.

Arthur decided that Ayra was not in charge here, this was his Camelot and it would do well for these new sorcerers to know that. Arthur left his father's side and went to where Ayra was talking to the sorcerers, barely noticing that his clumsy manservant followed him.

"Of course Camelot will welcome you," Ayra was saying as Arthur approached, "even if the king does not directly ask for your assistance, I can say you are under my protection and that would be enough."

"May I ask, how did a sorcerer come to have so much power in King Uther's court?" The lead sorcerer asked. So far Arthur hadn't heard the other three speak a word.

"Well, I really don't have that much power," Ayra said, "I'm only a magical advisor to the king, who happens to desperately need my help right now."

"And why is it that you advise the king in his time of crisis? Why don't you join the rest of us in fighting against his tyranny?"

Ayra didn't hesitate as she replied, "Because Emrys and the Once and Future King have met, and their destiny has begun."

The sorcerer looked over at Arthur, "please tell me that the Once and Future King is not a Pendragon?"

Ayra glanced at Arthur, "Maybe," she said.

"What is a Once and Future King?" Arthur asked.

The sorcerer looked at the crown prince for a moment before turning back to Ayra, "Not that I don't take you for word, but I would like to meet Emrys myself. To confirm that it really is him, and not just some imposter."

Ayra quickly glanced at Arthur again before saying, "Of course I will go fetch him," and walked towards the castle.

There was an awkward pause after Ayra left.

"I can have someone take your horses to the stables for you," Arthur said uncomfortably.

"That is very kind of you my lord, but I am afraid my friends and I shall not be staying for long and we will need our horses soon." The sorcerer replied.

"You will not stay and help protect Camelot?" Asked a confused Arthur.

The sorcerer shrugged, "We may return, but there are many people waiting for us to return with confirmation that Emrys really does fight for Camelot. Of course if it is the real Emrys then I will gladly fight for Camelot."

Arthur could see how this could benefit Camelot even more than if the sorcerers stayed. Maybe the news that Emrys fought for Camelot would discourage others from fighting against them.

"Well… at least let me get someone to bring them water and food. I'm sure you've had a long journey here and have another long journey back."

The sorcerer nodded, "Thank you sire, your generosity is appreciated. Although I think you overestimate how long it took to travel here."

"Merlin," Arthur said turning around to the manservant he knew was right behind him, "get some water and oats for their… Merlin?"

Arthur turned in a complete circle and scanned the entire courtyard, but his manservant was nowhere to be found.

Arthur knew that Merlin had definitely come to the courtyard with him. There hadn't been enough time for Arthur to put on all of his armor in his room, so he had Merlin put on things as he walked. Then he was sure he heard Merlin right behind him as he approached the small group of sorcerers in the middle of the courtyard.

"Odd," Arthur mumbled, "I could have sworn that he was right here..."

"Are you looking for someone in particular your majesty?" The sorcerer asked with an amused grin on his face.

Arthur didn't understand why the sorcerer was grinning at him like that, but he knew he didn't like it.

"No, just my manservant," Arthur said as he saw the sorcerers small grin turn into a full smile, "but it's all right I'll just have another servant get the water," He called over a small red haired servant, but his thoughts were still on Merlin.

::

Ayra entered Gaius's chambers just as Merlin was putting on his cloak. He had done his best to quietly slip away once the sorcerer had asked to meet him, but he wasn't sure if Arthur noticed or not. Then he had to come all the way up to Gaius's chambers where his cloak was. On the way he had almost run into Julie, who almost dropped the potions she was carrying down to the hospital for the battle.

"Hey Ayra, what's happening? Merlin here says that he's in too big a rush to tell me anything." Julie said.

"Well we have four sorcerers from Morgouse's army down in the courtyard who want to know if Merlin's the real Emrys. And they say that if he really is Emrys than they won't fight Camelot, and there are others in the army who feel the same way," Ayra explained hurriedly.

Julie stared at Ayra for a moment open mouthed. "You're kidding!"

Ayra smiled, "Nope, it seems that Merlin here might just save the day without actually doing anything."

"Yup, I'm just that good," Merlin joked as he pulled up his hood.

Ayra gave him a slight shove, "don't get cocky; you still need to prove to them that you're Emrys. I hope you have a plan."

Merlin shrugged and said in a deep voice that didn't belong to him, but rather to the spell that protected his identity, "Not really, but the one sorcerer that keeps talking…"

"Lucan," Ayra corrected him.

"Ok, Lucan is a druid and druids… they tend to be able to tell when I'm around," Merlin finished.

"But if they can tell when you're there how come he didn't know you were down in the courtyard?" Ayra asked.

"Oh he did, I just didn't let him figure out exactly who I was. He could feel my presence, but he couldn't identify me."

"All right Emrys," Ayra said, "Let's go convince these sorcerers that you're you."

::

Arthur stood awkwardly next to Lucan, for he had discovered that was the name of the lead sorcerer, as he saw Ayra walk out of the castle with a hooded member of the Amddiffyn.

As they approached Lucan and the other sorcerers kneeled and bowed their heads as if they were in the presence of their king.

"Emrys," Lucan said as the two figures approached, "it's an honor to be in your presence again."

"Again?" asked Arthur "You've met before?"

"No," Lucan said rising, "but he was in this courtyard when we first arrived. Tell me Emrys, how is it someone so close to the Prince can keep their magic a secret for so long?"

Arthur stiffened, what did Lucan mean by Emrys being close to him?

"Simple," Emrys said before Arthur could ask, "The Prince likes to see what he wants to see, rather than what actually happens."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Arthur asked, but for the first time in his life the crown prince was ignored.

"I see, and I'm assuming since you stay so close to the young Pendragon that he is who you are destined to protect?" Lucan asked.

"Yes," Emrys replied simply.

Lucan nodded, "That makes sense," he said, "I can think of no other reason why you would fight for the kingdom that had murdered so many of our kind."

Arthur was about to say something in Camelot's defense but he couldn't think of anything. Luckily Emrys came to Camelot's defense.

"No," he said shaking his head, "Camelot as a kingdom has killed no sorcerers. The people of Camelot are completely innocent. The only person I blame for the death of my kin is Uther. I refuse to place my hatred for the king on unjustly others who are forced to follow him."

"Well said Emrys," Lucan said, "I suppose that's how you justify protecting the Prince?"

"Arthur has done nothing," Emrys said, "It was his father's decision to banish magic, and not his. I cannot judge Arthur by his father's sins."

Lucan bowed, "You are as wise as the prophecies foretold Emrys. I promise to aide you in your destiny in any way possible."

"Then go back to the army's camp and spread the word that Emrys protects Camelot and that to fight against Camelot is to fight against me and my destiny. Take your people and go back into hiding until the day the Once and Future King ascends to the throne."

**Remember to review everyone! If I get a lot of review i might just feel obligated to write some more tonight ...**


	13. Into Enemy Territory

**So this is a really long one guys, because I'm going away today and won't be able to write for a while. **

**I'd like to thank my beta Dawn that Shines for getting me this back so quickly so that i could post it before i left. **

**Also I loved the amount of reviews from chapter 12! Everyone review this chapter cause i really really really really want 50 reviews after this one! **

**Enjoy!**

**This was a really hard decision but this chapter goes to: Gwenneth**

**Disclaimer: I dont own merlin :(**

Arthur noticed a good place to stop for the night and called out for everyone to stop.

He had been looking for a decent spot for the last twenty minutes since he noticed the sun had started to set, and this was the first decent looking spot he could find.

Arthur dismounted and tied his horse to a tree and sat down. Merlin quickly walked over and tied his horse next to Arthurs and started to unpack.

Today was the first time Arthur had seen Merlin since his mysterious disappearance yesterday in the courtyard. He kept meaning to ask him where he went, but he didn't want the other knights to eavesdrop on their conversation.

In fact, after Merlin had disappeared yesterday, Arthur didn't even expect him to come with him on this trip since he had told Merlin that he was released from all duties until after the battle. But Merlin had shown up with his things packed right on time, and even though he would never admit it, Arthur was glad that Merlin had come.

They were on their way to the last known location of the army of sorcerers. Ayra had pointed out in the war council that, after Lucan returned to the army's camp, the army's numbers would change.

"Camelot cannot afford not to know exactly what we're facing. We need to know if we're preparing to fight 400 sorcerers or 700 sorcerers." She had argued.

So now Arthur and Ayra were on their way to find the army's camp.

"I believe we made good time today sire," Ayra said from across the clearing.

"Yes, we're probably three quarters of the way away from the sorcerer's camp." Arthur replied.

Ayra nodded "Yes. I'm glad to be off that horse though. I don't know how you men do it, but remind me after this trip to never again spend all day in a saddle."

Arthur smiled "You get used to it," he said

"Hardly," Gawaine piped in, "Our beloved Prince here doesn't seemed to be bothered by riding all day, but for the rest of us mortals riding on a horse all day usually leads to a sore backside for a few days."

Everyone laughed.

"Ya I know," Elyan said, "I thought Arthur was never going to give the order stop!"

"You do realize that you're all knights now, right?" Asked Arthur, "You should be tough enough to face anything, including a 'sore backside' as Gawaine so bluntly put it."

"What about us non-knights?" Merlin asked, "I haven't been trained to have noble backside pain immunity."

"Well you don't count Merlin," Arthur retorted.

"Well what about me?" Ayra asked, "Do I not count as well?"

Arthur sat there speechless for a moment, "Well of course you count… but I am the Prince! You can't argue with me!"

"Well a good prince always listens to the advice of his knights," said Lancelot, who up to that moment had been silent.

"It doesn't matter, what the prince says goes," said Sir Bryant, the one knight that Uther had assigned to this quest, "I for one don't see a problem with riding in a saddle all day if my king asks it of me."

Nobody said another word, but instead returned to setting up camp. Sir Bryant had ruined the fun, just as he had many times during their ride that day. Arthur had managed to convince his father to allow Gawaine, Elyan and Lancelot to come on this patrol with him, arguing that his father needed his more experienced knights back in Camelot. He thought that it would be a nice change from Dungeon duty. But his father had forced him to take Sir Bryant along instead of Sir Percival.

Not that there was much wrong with Sir Bryant, from a noble's point of view he was perfect, but unlike Arthur's other companions the man simply didn't know how to loosen up and have fun. The man also hated magic, and kept glaring at Ayra. As far as Arthur could tell Lancelot, Gawaine and Elyan didn't really care much that Ayra had magic, another reason he had wanted only his knights of the round table, as the men who fought against the immortal army called themselves, with him on this expedition.

Arthur noticed Merlin leaving the clearing to collect firewood and decided to accompany him. The prince followed Merlin as his manservant picked up sticks from the ground.

"What happened to you yesterday?" Arthur asked.

"What are you talking about?"

"In the courtyard yesterday, one minute you were behind me and the next you were gone."

Merlin froze for a minute. His back was to Arthur so he couldn't see Merlin's expression.

"I …. Uhhhh….. went to … collect herbs," Merlin stammered.

"Collect herbs?" Arthur asked doubtfully.

"Yes, well I thought you didn't need me anymore so I … umm… went to finish my chores for Gaius."

Arthur knew Merlin was lying, but the problem was that Merlin's excuse was a good one. The prince couldn't find any holes in that could prove that Merlin was lying. So Arthur decided to create a few.

"So, which herbs did you collect?" he asked.

"Since when were you interested in herbs?" Merlin asked.

Arthur shrugged, "I'm not. I'm just curious is all."

Merlin hesitated, "I was collecting seena and myrth."

"And what do they do?"

"I don't know, Gaius uses them."

Arthur sighed. He obviously wasn't going to catch Merlin in a lie with this line of questioning, but he promised himself he would try again before this trip was over.

:

"I'm not much good with numbers, but that is defiantly not 700 sorcerers," Gawaine said.

"You're right, it looks like about 500," Arthur said.

"There are 526" Merlin whispered to Ayra.

"526 actually," Ayra said out loud.

"What did you count them?" Sir Bryant asked sarcastically.

Ayra glanced at the knight coolly, "No, I used a spell" she said.

They had found the army early this morning. Lancelot had managed to find a ledge that overlooked the valley the army was staying in. From the ledge they could see the entire army spread out before them.

"That's defiantly an improvement from 700," Elyan said.

"Yes, but I think we can reduce their numbers even more," Ayra said.

"How?" Arthur asked

"You don't realize, my Lord, how much Emrys means to our people. I would bet most of the people down there doubt that Lucan saw the real Emrys. If I can prove that the real Emrys fights for Camelot I think they will lose a lot more men." Ayra said.

"But how will you convince them?" Arthur asked, "Shouldn't you have brought Emrys with you if you were planning to do that?"

Ayra smiled slyly, "Don't worry about that my lord," and she walked over to where her horse was.

Arthur sent Merlin an exasperated look and threw his hands in the air.

"How are we supposed to help you if you won't tell us what the plan is?" Arthur asked, annoyed.

"The problem, my Lord, is that you assume that you are necessary to the plan," Ayra said, "You and your men set up camp while Merlin, Lancelot, and I go down there."

"Why can't the rest of us come?" Arthur whined.

"Because those two look the least like knights of Camelot" Ayra said "and besides who else would set up camp?"

::

Lancelot, Ayra and Merlin made their way through the trees towards the sorcerer's camp.

As soon as they were away from the others Lancelot had said, "Let me guess, Merlin you're Emrys and now were about to do something incrediably stupid."

Merlin shrugged, "Ya pretty much, except this plan isn't totally stupid... I'm simply going to intimidate everyone into not fighting against Camelot."

Lancelot shook his head, "Why do they respect you so much, are you like king of the sorcerers or something?"

"No, it has something to do with my destiny with Arthur. I don't know all of the details, but I'm supposedly the most powerful warlock who ever lived, and I will help Arthur bring magic back to Camelot," Merlin explained.

"Most powerful warlock ever," Lancelot repeated slowly as if trying to comprehend it, "I knew you had magic Merlin, but I never took you for most powerful warlock of all time material."

"We're entering the camp now. Remember our cover story," Ayra said as they walked into the valley.

Patched up tents surrounded them as they walked farther into the camp. All around them shabbily dressed undernourished people prepared for the battle that was to come. Some made weapons, others practiced battle spells and others trained with weapons. As Merlin look around him, he was amazed at how similar the camp looked like Camelot. Well, a shabbier version of Camelot. The biggest and nicest tents were in the center of the camp, along with something that seemed like a market place. The closer to the boundaries of the valley, the shabbier the people and tents looked.

People everywhere were preparing for the battle, but there were others who were simply living. They cooked on small fire pits outside their tents, hung up laundry and did other household chores. Children ran around the tents, laughing merrily. Other than shabbiness, the only real difference between the camp and Camelot was that the people in the camp used magic.

The small group of outsiders made their way to the camp's center.

"Ok let's split up," Ayra said, instantly taking charge of the situation, "I will go this way, Merlin will go that way and Lancelot you go that way. Try and get as much information from people as possible, especially their opinions about Emrys."

The three went their separate ways, and Merlin made his way towards a man making arrows.

"Hello," Merlin said cheerfully putting on his biggest smile.

The man put the arrow in his hand down and smiled at Merlin, obviously glad to have an excuse to take a break.

"Hello, what can I do fer ya?" asked the man.

"I just got here about two days ago and I think I'm a bit lost," Merlin lied.

The man laughed, "Well, boy you're in luck! I know everythin' there is to know about this camp. Now you're in the market place where old folk like me do everythin' the young soldiers are too busy trainin' to do."

"Oh, so how do I get back to my tent?"

"Well that depends where your tent is."

Merlin shrugged "I don't know, the lady that showed us around said the area had a name but I can't remember."

The old man thought for a moment, "Well if you're new they might a put you in Goblin's Gold."

"Goblin's?" Merlin asked, if the army had goblins, Camelot was in more trouble than he originally thought.

The old man laughed again, "Well there ain't no goblin's there boy! We just name the areas after magical creatures. Like this area is Unicorn Central and there's Griffin's Peak and Dragon's Claw and Pheonix's nest. Any of them ring a bell?"

"I think Pheonix's nest sounds a bit familiar," Merlin lied.

"Pheonix's nest? That's where all the blacksmith work. Why in the world would your tent be there?"

"Well, my father is a blacksmith," Merlin lied nervously "And we... uh, live... near where he works."

The old man didn't seem to notice Merlin's nervousness.

"Ah good, we've been runnin' low on blacksmith. Seems like we're runnin' low on everythin' now a days."

"Why's that?" Merlin asked.

"Well, there's a rumor goin' roun' that Emrys is fighting fer Camelot, and everyone's got their panties in a bunch," the old man said, "Couple of days back, a few druids went to see if it be the truth or not, just to make everyone rest easy ya know? And they come back sayin' that Emrys really is fighting for Camelot! Well I don't believe it me self. Why would Emrys ever fight for them Pendragons? They only kill people like us. Well this guy, they call him Lucan, makes a big fuss, sayin' he's a Druid and he knows Emrys when he sees him. So bunch of people up and left sayin' they won't fight Emrys."

"If Emrys really were fighting for Camelot, would you fight against him?" Merlin asked.

"Why course not! I'd chop off me right arm here if Emrys asked me to. Besides, what would be the point of fightin' against Emrys? He's too powerful, no matter what that Morgouse says, there ain't no way she could beat him."

Merlin thanked the old man for his time and moved on to another stall. He talked to five different people and got similar information to what the old man had said. No, they didn't believe that it really was Emrys fighting for Camelot. And yes, they wouldn't fight against Camelot if Emrys asked them not to.

::

"Are you ready?" Ayra asked Merlin as she squeezed his hand lightly.

Lancelot, Ayra and Merlin had meet back where they had separated. Both had found similar information to what Merlin had heard from the old man. So now they stood in a large crowd of people around a small platform. Apparently Morgouse was going to make a speech here soon and everyone was required to attend.

Ayra decided this was the best place for Merlin to convince everyone to not fight Camelot. Sure many would still not believe him, and others would still fight out of hatred, but the more they lessened the army's numbers the better chance Camelot had.

Ayra looked over at the cloaked figure next to her. She couldn't tell what he was feeling because of the spell, but she knew Merlin well enough to know that he was nervous.

"As ready as I'll ever be," Merlin said as Morgouse stood on top of the platform so that everyone could see her.

"Greetings brotherin. We march on Camelot in three days' time and..."

"Now," Ayra whispered.

Morgouse never finished her sentence as a gust of wind made her loose her balance and fall. Merlin quickly left Ayra's side and took Morgouse's place on the platform.

"What the...?" Morgouse started before Merlin had another gust of wind push her off the platform.

Suddenly the crowd erupted in jeers and insults.

"Who do you think you are? Pushing me off like that?" Morgouse asked.

"I am Emrys."

Suddenly everyone stopped jeering and stared in silence at the hooded figure on the platform.

**Bit of a cliffe for you guys to ponder while im away ;)**

**Remember to review everyone! Did you like it? Did you hate it? i want to know and i want to know why!**


	14. Methods of Persuasion

**Immmmm baaaccckkkkkkkkkkk!**

**I think you all want to read so I'll jusst let you get to it :)**

**This chapter goes to: Ruby890**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin :(**

Merlin stared down at the skeptical faces below him. Other than Lancelot and Ayra he didn't see one friendly face in the crowd, and they both looked nervous which wasn't very reassuring.

Then the laughing started.

Merlin had no idea where it started from but suddenly the entire camp was laughing.

Merlin felt lost. He didn't know what he could do to convince these people he really was Emrys. He had hoped, like Lucan, someone would be able to recognize him.

He frantically searched the crowd to find at least one friendly face, but came up empty. He had no idea what to do.

"_**Fod yn dawel**_," He yelled

Suddenly there was complete and utter silence. He didn't know why he made the entire crowd silent, he was just flustered by their laughter and his magic had just acted out of its own accord.

"I am Emrys," he repeated, "and I am here to inform you all that I fight for Camelot and those who fight against Camelot, fight against me and my destiny,"

"I am not asking you to join me. I know that's too much to ask, but i ask that you go home. Go back into hiding for now and be patient. The day when the Once and Future King will take the throne is coming."

Merlin waited for someone to say something, but everyone was eerily silent. Then, a man made his way to the front of the crowd. He stepped onto the platform to stand next to Merlin, and pointed to his mouth. Merlin realized that he had forgotten to remove the spell and with a wave of his hand allowed the crowd control of their vocal cords.

"There is a way to tell if you are Emrys or not," the man said as he rolled up his sleeve to reveal an arm covered in tattoos, "the Druids gave me a tattoo for this exact purpose"

The man lifted his arm as far as he could so the crowd could see his tattoo.

"_**Fod yn llachar ac yn disgleirio ar gyfer Emrys!**_"

Suddenly one of his tattoos glowed and as the man moved his arm closer to Merlin it glowed brighter.

"You really are Emrys!" the man exclaimed.

Suddenly the crowd erupted. Some cheered others threatened. Merlin saw Morgouse glaring daggers at him as she tried to gain control of the situation, but was drowned out by the crowd.

Merlin motioned for Lancelot and Ayra to join him on the platform. It was time to leave.

They climbed onto the platform and Merlin grabbed their arms, quickly whispering the transportation spell, "_**Trafnidiaeth i ni lle rydym eisiau mynd.**_"

A sudden gust of wind surrounded Merlin, Lancelot, and Ayra as Merlin transported them away from the angry crowd.

:::

Arthur fiddled with the stick in his hand as he once again glared at Gawaine and Elyan who sat on the other side of the campsite laughing. The two knights had left him alone with Sir Bryant on the other side of the campsite.

The two had naturally sat as far from Sir Bryant as possible once Ayra, Lancelot, and Merlin had left. Once Arthur and Sir Bryant had moved over to Gawaine and Elyan, there was only an awkward silence where moments ago the two knights had been laughing.

The fact that the common born knights were so awkward with the other knights concerned Arthur. He knew that the other knights would have a hard time accepting commoners as knights, but he didn't expect it to be this bad. All day Sir Bryant had been complaining about being on a mission with commoners.

"The only thing worse than commoners are sorcerers," Bryant had said.

Arthur hadn't responded to any of Bryant's cynical comments and had either quickly changed the subject or ignored him completely. Bryant was starting to get on his nerves and he wished he could be over with Gawaine and Elyan. Since when had he started to prefer the company of commoners to that of nobles?

Suddenly Arthur felt a large gust of wind from behind him.

"Did you feel that?" he asked as he stood and unsheathed his sword.

"Yes," Bryant said already on his feet "That wasn't natural wind, it must be sorcery."

"What a surprise, since we are right next to a camp full or sorcerers. I wonder how there can magically be a gust of wind? Do you know Elyan?" Gawaine said facetiously.

"Why Gawaine, I have no idea!" Elyan said equally facetious.

Arthur was about to sheath his sword when he heard footsteps. Suddenly Gawaine and Elyan were no longer joking as they stood to face whoever was approaching the camp.

"Really Merlin it wasn't necessary," the group of knights heard Ayra say as Merlin, Lancelot and Ayra entered the campsite.

Arthur let his sword fall and rolled his eyes.

"Meeerrrlliiinnn," he whined.

Merlin looked at the prince, puzzled, "Yes Arthur?"

"What was that?" Arthur asked.

"What was what?" Merlin asked.

"That gust of wind!" the prince said as he motioned to where the three had come from. His face was turning bright read as it only does when he's angry with Merlin.

"See I told you!" Ayra yelled.

"Oh come on!" Merlin exclaimed, "It just means I'm accurate!"

"Ya but accuracy isn't very good when you scare the prince half to death!"

"What is going on here?" Arthur asked "And I was not frightened!"

"Oh it's nothing," Ayra said, "Umm… I transported the three of us here and… umm… Merlin was directing where we transported and well I said we landed to close to the campsite."

"Well that's what you get for trusting a servant," Bryant said,"you should have had Lancelot do the concentrating for you, even though he's a commoner it would have been better than having this idiot do it for you."

The camp was full of tension after Bryant's statement. The only noise that could be heard was Bryant sharpening his sword, completely oblivious to the tension that he had caused.

Suddenly Gawaine laughed. It wasn't a happy laugh though.

"You really think you're better than us just because by some off chance you were born into a certain family?" Gawaine asked.

Bryant shrugged, "Of course, maybe not so much better than you three because you're knights, but I'm defiantly better than that witch," Bryant spit at Ayra, "I can't wait for the day we kick these sorcerers' asses so that Arthur can burn you at the stake."

Ayra's hands were clenched into fists so that her knuckles were white and Arthur swore he could see a faint tint of red in her eyes.

"After everything I'm doing to protect Camelot you still think I should die?" Ayra asked with threatening voice.

"Ayra…" Merlin began.

"No Merlin," Ayra yelled as Arthur saw her eyes turn completely red, "After everything I've risked for Camelot you still hate me? Because of the way I am? That's like saying I hate you because you have a sword! I'm risking my life, and the life of my men for your sorry hide and you still wish to see me burn? You think I want to do this? You think I couldn't just avoid Camelot all together? I could be in a Druid camp right now, or leave the kingdom and settle down and live a normal life! Do you think that I've never thought about that? I've chosen to give up any chance of a normal life to help Camelot and I'M SICK AND TIRED OF YOU ALL HATING ME!"

Suddenly the wind picked up at an unnatural speed for the second time that day.

"Ayra stop!" Merlin yelled as he covered his eyes from the dirt that was flying everywhere.

Ayra didn't answer him as suddenly tree roots rose out of the ground and restrained Sir Bryant.

"Hey… What the... Let me go!" The knight commanded as he tried to squirm his way out of the tree roots.

Ayra smiled evilly, her eyes completely red. Arthur had never pictured Ayra as evil, but if she were she would look exactly like this.

"You enjoy seeing people burn so much?" Ayra said menacingly, "We'll see how much you like it when you're the one burning!"

Ayra raised her hand and began to say the spell when suddenly a blur of blue, red and black rammed into her, pushing her on the ground.

"Merlin!" Arthur yelled. Ayra obviously wasn't in control, who knew what she would do to Merlin. Arthur knew that he was too far away to help his idiotic friend, that Ayra would hurt him before he got there.

"Ayra listen to me!" Merlin yelled gripping Ayra's shoulders, "This isn't you! Don't let it control you! Come back!"

Ayra's eyes flashed gold and Merlin went flying into the tree that held Sir Bryant hostage.

Merlin immediately got up, "Ayra listen to me! Fight it! You're stronger than this! Think of Geldor! Would he want you do this?" Arthur saw Merlin's words take effect as the red in Ayra's eyes started to fade "What about the Amddiffyn? They need you to lead them! You need to control it for them!" Ayra's eyes continued to fade but they were still a light shade of red.

Merlin took a few steps toward Ayra, "Fight it for me Ayra. I need you, need you here with me. Not lost inside you. Come back to me Ayra."

That was the final push Ayra needed. Her eyes cleared of the red, turning back into their normal green. The roots around Sir Bryant loosened and fell to the ground and the wind stopped howling.

Tears immediately filled Ayra's eyes, "Merlin?" she whispered.

Merlin quickly filled the gap between him and Ayra and took her into his arms. Ayra sobbed into his shoulder, "I'm sorry… I'm so sorry. I let it get out. I let it get out of control."

"Shhhh… It's ok," Merlin soothed as he held her close.

They stood like that for several minutes, the camp silent except for Ayra's sobs. Finally Ayra removed herself from Merlin's arms and wiped her tears away and looked at the rest of them sheepishly.

"What the bloody hell was _that_?" Arthur asked.

Ayra suddenly found her feet very interesting as she said, "I'm sorry. I really am. I… I can't help it," Ayra looked up at the prince, "My mother tried to put a protection spell on me when I was young so that I would be able to defend myself, but my mother wasn't a very talented sorcerer. She… She messed up the spell. So now whenever I feel scared or angry the spell takes over and I can't control it."

"I've spent years trying to learn to stay calm. The Druids taught me mediation techniques and other ways to stay calm… but sometimes I just can't keep it in," Ayra turned her head and focused her attention to Sir Bryant, "I'm sorry my lord if I caused you any permanent damage."

"No, no it's all right. I'm ok," the knight said timidly.

"Well this has been interesting and all, but we have an army of sorcerers who are going to be searching for us. I suggest we ride for Camelot and deal with this later," Lancelot suggested.

Arthur nodded his consent, thank goodness for Lancelot. The man always could see the bigger picture and be the voice of reason.

The small party packed up camp silently and mounted their horses.

Nobody said a word as they rode toward Camelot.

**Well what did you guys think? Did you love it? Did you hate it? Tell me why in a review!**

**I know I made Bryant kind of an ass but that's kind of how I imagine most nobles think of others. **

**Remember to review!**


	15. Doubts

**I tried to clarify more about Ayra's condition in this chapter because some people were a bit confused by it.**

**This chapter goes to: Kakita101**

**Disclaimer: I don't own merlin :(**

Ayra silently closed the door of the room Uther had assigned her behind her.

She silently made her way down the silent hallway past the doors of the other members of the Amddiffyn. She went down the stairs and walked down the hall where there was a large wooden double door. She pushed the heavy door open and stepped out into the moonlight.

A full moon illuminated the small garden around her. Ayra closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she tried to lose herself in the aroma of the flowers around her.

The garden was the private garden of some wife of some noble. Ayra, for the life of her, could never remember the woman's name, but she defiantly knew how to make an ordinary space beautiful. Ayra loved coming to this garden to think. The garden was on a large balcony that overlooked the forest. Ayra quietly made her way down the small path in the garden past the small fountain to the edge of the balcony.

It was no use. Even in the garden with nothing but flowers trees and stars surrounding her she still couldn't get her mind off of the impending battle. Tomorrow everyone she cared about could die. The thought terrified her. She couldn't handle being alone again. After her parents died she had Geldor, but who would be there to pick up the pieces this time? Especially if something happened to Merlin. She felt her heart would break beyond repair if something happened to him.

She didn't really fear for her own life. She was going to be safe in the commander's station with the King directing the forces tomorrow. The only way something could happen to her was if the sorcerers managed to take Camelot. But with the steady number of deserters in the sorcerers' army the chances of their victory were falling, yet it was still very possible that they could take the city.

The garden wasn't having the calming effect on her as she had hoped but she really didn't want to go back to her stuffy chambers where she had done nothing but toss and turn for hours. Uther had insisted that the night before the battle the Amddiffyn stay in the castle in case the sorcerers attacked early.

Ayra desperately tried to think of something other than the battle the next day. Her mind drifted to her return from the expedition the other day.

Sir Bryant had suggested, and the other knights had agreed, that they keep Ayra's condition a secret until after the battle. If they made a big fuss over it now it would only cause confusion amongst the court and its loyalties and everyone had agreed that was the last thing Camelot needed right now. Although it had been a surprise that Sir Bryant was the one to suggest it. Ayra secretly thought he just didn't want anyone to know how he had been victim to her magic.

Ayra sighed. She wished she knew what it was her mother did to her. She didn't even know which spell she had tried to do. Ayra closed her eyes to hold back a tear as she thought of her mother's execution. She saw the flames enveloping her mother as she desperately chanted the spell. Her mother's golden eyes wild as the magic left her. After she completed the spell, her mother hadn't screamed once as all the others did when they burned. Ayra liked to think that exertion from the spell killed her mother, not Uther, but it had been Uther who had forced her hand. Was she really doing the right thing by protecting the man who had killed her mother?

Yes. Geldor had taught her years ago to pity the elder Pendragon, and not to hate or place the sins of the father on his son. Arthur deserved a chance to prove what kind of king he would be and, going by the prophecies and what she'd seen of Arthur, he was going to be a very good one.

Ayra just wished she had some control. She felt like her entire life was determined by if she could control her anger or not. If only she knew what spell her mother had messed up then maybe she could find a way to cure herself. The spell didn't even protect her from anything. It only appeared when she was either really upset or really angry and tended to be dormant when her life was actually in danger. Even if she couldn't, Merlin would be able to cure her if she had more information. Maybe she would focus on it more after they dealt with the army of sorcerers.

Now she was think of the battle again, which would mean she would never get back to sleep.

So instead, she thought of Merlin. She imagined he was there in the garden with her, his arms wrapped around her, protecting her from the world. She didn't need to worry; Merlin would protect everyone like always. Merlin would never let anything bad happen.

With that mindset, Ayra headed back to her room where she promptly fell asleep.

::::

Morgouse stared at the full moon, which was surrounded by a navy sky and thousands of twinkling stars.

She too was thinking of the battle tomorrow and couldn't sleep. She had planned carefully for this attack but Emrys had ruined almost all of her plans.

The attack should have been a surprise, but her spies within Camelot informed her that Camelot was prepared to fight. How the king had managed to find out about the attack before she had planned Morgouse would never know, but she suspected it had something to do with Emrys and his magical gang.

Emrys. Because of him almost half of her army had left, deciding to wait for the Once and Future King to take the thrown. Was she right to go against Emrys? It was his destiny to bring magic back to Camelot, was she fighting Emrys's destiny? Was she being counteractive in her struggle to bring magic back to Camelot?

No she told herself. She had had this debate many times over the last few days and she had decided she was in the right. Who knew when the Once and Future King would take the thrown? Certainly Arthur wasn't the Once and Future King. For all anybody knew the Once and Future King wasn't even born yet. It could even Morgana's son after she became queen.

No, she wasn't fighting Emrys's destiny, she was pushing it ahead of schedule. But was she was she right to even bother fighting Emrys? He was the most powerful sorcerer ever, did she stand a chance?

No, she had a plan for him. Morgana had mastered the spell; Emrys wouldn't be a problem as long as everything went according to plan. And this time she was going to make sure her plans didn't fail, and that Camelot would be Morgana's.

Comforted by her assurances in her plan, she went back into her tent and fell fast asleep.

**A nice little comparison of pre-battle jitters between Morgouse and Ayra don't you think. This is more of a transition/tie up loose ends chapter. I promise next chapter there will be a lot of action.**

**Remember to Review! **


	16. Zoe's Prediction

**I know, I haven't updated in a while and you all probably want to do some terribly painful things to me, but in my defense schools been brutal the last couple weeks and I had to study for SATs! But I'll let you get to the story and I'll talk at the end.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin**

Merlin handed Arthur his sword, finally finishing getting the prince into his armor and ready for battle.

"All right Merlin Let's go" the prince said as he headed for the door.

"Actually Arthur I told Gaius I would help him during the battle" Merlin said awkwardly

Arthur turned and looked at his manservant shocked "what"

Merlin shrugged "Gaius said he needs me since I'm one of the few people in Camelot who knows how to use all of the potions and remedies that he and Jewls made properly"

"I thought you were terrible at healing?"

Merlin stumbled for an excuse. He couldn't tell Arthur that he was actually going to be at his side today as Emrys "Well when you live in the room where the two of them are working and they send you to pick all of the herbs for them, you tend to pick up which potion does what"

Arthur crossed his arms, he could tell Merlin was lying but he didn't know why. He obviously wasn't afraid; Merlin had faced a dragon with him, so an army of sorcerers shouldn't be a problem. Arthur tried to figure out what Merlin actually had planned but he couldn't think of anything.

"Fine go" Arthur said after a few seconds. He was surprised by how quickly the servant left the room. Usually before something big Merlin said some surprisingly wise speech that always made Arthur feel better. But today the servant practically ran out of the room barely saying anything.

Arthur sighed; once again he didn't have time to think about Merlin he had a battle to fight and a kingdom to fight for.

:::

Merlin sighed in relief. Arthur had bought his story about helping Gaius. Well from his hesitation Merlin could tell that Arthur knew he was lying, but as usual the prince didn't care enough to figure out why, which was what Merlin had been counting on.

He hurried down to the field the King and Ayra had chosen for the battle. Since Urlon, Rila and Kaitra were sustaining the shield around the city it forced the army to fight on the field. This way Camelot could fight at its best, on horseback and on flat ground, which would give Camelot an advantage.

Merlin had to hurry. Soon the three would activate the spell and nobody would be able to get in or out of Camelot. Plus he had promised Henry he would run a quick errand before he went down to the battlefield.

He arrived at the field and went Camelot's army where Julie and Gaius had set up the infirmary. He entered the tent and went straight to the back where Gaius and Julie were still making potions.

"Hey Gaius can I talk to you for a minute?" Merlin asked

"Of course what is it Merlin?" Gaius asked, his eyes never leaving the foul smelling potion he was brewing.

"alone"

"Oh one moment. Jewls, this will need the spell in a few moments" Gaius said as he and Merlin walked into a corner.

"What is it Merlin? I'm very busy, and shouldn't you be helping Arthur?" Gaius asked

"I have a message for you," Gaius raised his eyebrow "From Jewls's husband. He wanted me to tell you about her condition."

"Jewls is a woman?" Gaius asked incredulously

"Yes and pregnant," Gaius's jaw dropped "her husband just wants me to tell you to make sure she doesn't overexert herself today. If she looks tired just make sure she takes a break."

Gaius nodded "of course. But how is it you know Jewls's husband?"

Merlin suddenly became very interested in his boots "Oh well …. You see …"

"Merlin," Gaius interrupted his wards babbling "I know we haven't had much time to talk lately, but I'm assuming that you are Emrys."

Merlin nodded

"So you will be fighting?"

"Yes my job is to take down Morgouse and Morgana."

Gaius put his hands on Merlin's shoulders "Be careful out there. I don't want to have to see you back in here until after the battle"

"I will, don't worry Gaius. I'll be fine."

Gaius turned away from his ward to hide the troubled expression on his face. Merlin was like a son to him, and thinking about the possibility that Merlin could be one of injured men on the cots he had helped set up scared Gaius more than he could say.

"Jewls," Gaius said as he approached the sorceress "take a rest until the battle. I don't want you wasting your magic on trivial things. We have made enough potions to last us through the battle."

Julie automatically turned to Merlin "You told him didn't you?"

Merlin held up his hands "Henry told me to. He just wants to make sure you don't overexert yourself."

Even though her cloak hid her face, Merlin knew Julie was rolling her eyes.

"Fine, but I'm not happy about this"

Merlin smiled and was about to respond when his happy expression quickly turned into one of worry as he saw the sobbing girl approaching.

"Zoe! What are you doing here?" Merlin exclaimed as the seer approached them.

"Merlin! Oh Merlin thank goodness!" she exclaimed as she hugged the warlock

"Zoe, Zoe! Calm down! What is it?" Merlin asked as he pulled her out of earshot of the nosy servants.

"Merlin it was terrible! I'm so glad I found you before …. Before…" Zoe stammered as she let out a sob.

"Zoe, did you have a vision?" Merlin asked

Zoe nodded, unable to speak through her tears.

"Ok Zoe you need to tell me what you saw"

"I…I …. I saw you and you were… were dying! There was some kind of trick in the battle and you were cursed and … and Ayra was crying…"

"Wait, I was dying?"

Zoe nodded "Ye-e-e-es, someone said something about some trick that Morgana and Morgouse have planned and you were in so much pain…"

Merlin took a deep breath. According to Zoe he was going to die if he fought. For a few seconds he entertained the idea that Zoe could be wrong, but Zoe was never wrong. It seemed that the only way to avoid his death was if he did not fight. But Merlin suddenly realized he was prepared to die for Camelot…. If his sacrifice would be worth it.

"Zoe, I need you to tell me everything you saw. Did anyone say anything about if we won the battle or not?"

Zoe sniffled as she put on a thoughtful expression. "Well… no everyone was mostly worrying about you… Although some knight did come over and announce the enemy was retreating because Morgouse was badly injured."

That was all the stimulation that Merlin needed. As long as they won the battle nothing else mattered, injuring Morgouse was just a bonus.

"Ok Zoe, I need you to go back to Hern and Edith's on your own. We can't spare any men to take you back."

"But Merlin what about you?" she asked frantically "Promise me you won't fight today"

"I promise not to do anything I won't regret," Merlin said soothingly "now head home and get some rest."

**So what did you think? Did you like it? Did you hate it? I'd like to know why!**

**I know it's short but it's better than nothing right? **

***Hint*Hint*Hint: The more reviews I get the sooner I'll update! and next update the battle for Camelot begins!**

Zoe seemed much calmer, obviously assuming Merlin meant he would not fight in the battle, as she left the infirmary.

As Merlin headed towards the battlefield Julie came over to him.

"What was that about?" she asked

Merlin couldn't bring himself to look at Julie as he said "Oh nothing important we can deal with it after the battle"

Satisfied Julie left Merlin to change into his cloak and head out to battle.


	17. The Begining of the End

**The battle for Camelot has arrived!**

**But first I just want to thank everyone who reviewed on the last chapter! Your reviews really did inspire me to write faster!**

**Now onto the story!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin**

Ayra scanned Camelot's battle lines for what felt like the hundredth time. She checked to make sure that every man was in place and at attention. Five minutes ago they had heard the sound of Morgouse's army approaching Camelot, and their dismay at not being able to attack due to the magical shield now protecting Camelot.

Ayra glanced at her men one more time. Each member of the Amddiffyn fighting in today's battle had been strategically placed among Uther's knights so they could do the most damage with their magic. Merlin was with the prince towards the front of the army where they would be the most fighting, while Ayra was to protect the king with magic should something go wrong.

And things could certainly go wrong.

"They will arrive soon" the king said

"Yes my lord, soon they will realize that Camelot is inaccessible. They will be forced to come here and not only will Camelot have the advantage of fighting on horseback, but the enemy will be totally disorganized" Ayra replied

The king grunted in response. When they had first started to work together to defend Camelot the king had only acted coldly towards her. He often ignored her, or if he did pay attention to her it was only to glare at her.

But as time passed, the king started to trust Ayra. He started to listen to her advice more and they soon came to the point where Ayra was one of his closest advisors. Uther had been rarely seen in public the past few weeks without Ayra by his side and even in private she was almost always with the king.

It took a lot of effort for Ayra to ignore the many cold looks and whispers from the nobles whose position as Uther's advisor she had taken. She knew they were only jealous but she couldn't help but feel uncomfortable when one sent her a particularly nasty glare.

But she really did not care much for the petty nobles and their politics. All she cared about was that Camelot was safe, and if that meant that she had to make a few enemies on the way, that was fine by her.

Suddenly the king stood, taking Ayra away from her thoughts.

"They're here" he said quietly

Shouts erupted from Camelot's army as commanders started barking orders as they started to see what their king saw.

Sorcerers were coming from either side as they marched around Camelot's perimeter, looking for a weakness in the magical shield. They too saw their enemy their commanders started to yell orders.

The battle for Camelot had begun.

::::

Morgouse was frustrated, to say the least. The Amddiffyn had managed to put a shield around Camelot so that nobody could enter, and Morgouse could not break the spell without having access to the runes that surrounded Camelot's walls.

Finally her men approached Camelot's army in an open plain.

Morgouse frowned. Her original plan had been to attack from the north and south, Camelot's two weakest points, but now her men were forced to attack on foot against mounted knights and she had significantly less sorcerers than she had planned for originally. She did not see a pleasant outcome the way things were now.

Morgouse stood in the stirrups of her horse to get a better view of her men on the other side of Camelot's army. She could barely make out her sister leading the sorcerers to meet the waiting knights.

Morgouse shifted her gaze from her sister to Camelot's army. The knights were turning to face the two oncoming groups. Among the group closest to her she could make out Arthur with a hooded figure next to him, who she decided must be Emrys.

Morgouse smiled as she sat back on her horse. If she could isolate Emrys she was sure her plan could work. With both Arthur and Emrys on her side, Morgana should easily be able to sneak her way over to them.

Morgouse felt her confidence lift as she stood on her stirrups once more, this time with her sword in hand pointed towards Camelot's awaiting knights.

"For Freedom!" She yelled

"For Freedom!" her men yelled as they ran to face Camelot's army.

Morgouse's smile widened as she kicked her horse into a gallop. By the end of the day Camelot would fall, Morgana would be queen once more, and Uther, Arthur, and Emrys would be dead.

:::

Merlin heard the sorcerers yell "For Freedom!" as they started to attack.

Next to him Arthur yelled "For the Love of Camelot!" as he lead his men to meet the oncoming magicians.

Merlin gave his horse a kick to keep up with Arthur.

Merlin had never seen so much blood in his entire life. Everywhere men from both sides fell from spells or a sword. Neither had Merlin cast so many spells so fast in his life. If he was not blocking a spell from a sorcerer he was casting an attacking spell on a sorcerer. His eyes stayed a permanent gold as next to him Arthur mercilessly hacked down from his horse any sorcerer stupid enough to get into the reach of his sword.

After about ten minutes of fighting, the ground was already littered with bodies. Most of them were sorcerers, but there were many knights among them as well. Merlin recognized Sir Balmon, Sir Folharn and Sir Holan's unmoving bodies as he saw Sir Bryant helping an injured Sir Rolland to the infirmary.

To his right, Galahad fought valiantly. His sword was magically aflame as he took down one opponent after another. He did not even have to stab his opponents; his sword only had to touch any part of his opponent's body or clothing to set them on fire. Henry and Leyerdon were fighting the other faction of sorcerers.

For a moment it looked like the sorcerers had no choice but to retreat as the knights easily overpowered them, but then Morgouse appeared as if from nowhere taking down knights with her sword and spells as she went along.

The sorceress made eye contact with him for a moment before heading off towards a desolate corner of the battlefield near the edge of the woods.

Merlin instantly followed her ignoring Arthur's surprised shout, "Hey, where are you going?"

It was Merlin's job to take care of Morgouse and Morgana, he didn't think about his own safety for a second. Nor did he think about how it could a trap. All he knew was that he had to do whatever it took to take down the two sisters or Camelot would be taken.

Merlin arrived at the edge of the battlefield where Morgouse was waiting and he dismounted.

"Well, well, well Emrys we meet at last." Morgouse taunted

"Leave Morgouse," Merlin replied in that annoyingly deep voice "and I won't have to hurt you."

Morgouse chuckled darkly "I am afraid Emrys that you are in no position to be making threats. You may be the most powerful sorcerer to ever live, but it is obvious that your magic is raw and untrained. You stand no chance against a priestess of the Old Religion like me, who has had years of experience. Join me Emrys, with my help you can reach your full potential."

"I would rather die" Merlin spat

Morgouse's expression darkened "Have it your way then, _**bêl yn mynd o dân**_"

A ball of fire shot from Morgouse's hand towards Merlin.

"_**darian i mi o hynny"**_ Merlin yelled placing a shield between him and the oncoming ball of fire. He was surprised at the amount of power behind the blast. Merlin swallowed nervously, this was going to be harder than he thought.

::::

Morgana slit the throat of her opponent and did not even glance down at his chocking form as she headed towards the other side of the field.

Morgana was furious. Emrys had managed to thwart their plans before they had even begun. The shield around Camelot had separated her and her sister and now she was fighting her way to make sure the plan worked. She could not fail her sister again. She had messed up too many times and she knew it. Even though Morgouse never was angry with her for her mistakes, Morgana knew that all of their past failures were her fault, but this time she was not going to fail. She had practiced the spell for weeks to make sure she had it down perfectly.

A knight she vaguely recognized as the drunken knight who had saved Arthur's life during the Melee approached her.  
Barely glancing at him she said "_**Astrice**_" sending the knight flying.

Morgana continued through the battlefield, killing a few knights along the way so she could get through. Finally she made it to the other side of the field. She saw Morgouse talking to Emrys in a corner, isolated from the rest of the fighting. Suddenly Morgouse's countenance darkened as she sent a fireball at Emrys, who seemed to easily block the deadly spell.

Morgana knew this was her chance. She started to sneak over behind Emrys when Arthur stepped in her way.

"Hello Morgana, fancy meeting you here" the Prince said coldly as he stood in a ready position.

Morgana smiled, not only would she complete her mission, but she would be able to kill Arthur on the way. "Hello, brother. It has been a while".

Arthur cringed at the mention of his being Morgana's brother "Let's not play games, Morgana. Surrender now and I won't have to hurt you."

Morgana laughed "What makes you so sure you can hurt me big brother?"

Arthur did not respond, instead he attacked moving his sword in intricate patterns as he tried to find a weakness in Morgana's impeccable defense.

After a little while of fighting, Morgana grew impatient. She had to get to her sister soon or she would fail. She did not have time for Arthur.

Morgana suddenly pulled away from Arthur and shouted "_**coed lapio ef i fyny dynn felly ni all ddianc**_"

Suddenly the roots of a nearby tree sprang to life and tightly coiled around the prince.

"I'll be back brother. And when I return expect to be in more pain than you could possible imagine" Morgana smiled evilly and turned away from the struggling prince.

She quickly made her way behind Emrys and started to chant the spell that would be his downfall.

**Well what did you think? It was really hard to write the battle scene, but I did my best. **

**If I get enought inspiration in the form of Reviews I probably will write the next chapter tomorow or saturday (Hint hint)**


	18. Life and Death

**I told you guys I would have this up today. I ment to write this earlier, but I got caught up in the madness of the Final Four of March Madness. If you've ever watched/followed March Madness you know what I'm talking about. If not then join the Madness!**

Previously in Amddiffyn:_"She quickly made her way behind Emrys and started to chant the spell that would be his downfall."  
_

"_**gwenwyn y dyn hwn fel bod ei organau yn methu gwneud iddo ddioddef wrth iddo farw**_"Morgana said the spell with obvious malice. She and Morgouse had chosen the spell because it would get the job done, but was also relatively easy for an untrained sorceress such as Morgana to cast.

A scarlet red shimmer seemed to leave Morgana's hand and slowly made its way along the ground towards the unsuspecting cloaked figure.

Morgana watched in anticipation as the spell made its way to Emrys. The warlock was totally focused on her sister and had not even noticed her cast the spell.

Morgana felt a shred of fear as she heard a high pitched scream "_Emrys!_" attempt to warn the warlock to the danger he was in.

Morgana and the warlock turned to face whoever called him. Ayra, the leader of the Amddiffyn was running towards them, trying to warn Emrys of Morgana's presence. But before he could figure out her warning the spell reached him.

Morgana heard him gasp as the spell took hold, acting as a poison to his body. She smiled as the warlock fell, gasping for breath.

:::

Merlin's focus was entirely on Morgouse. Her spells were almost as powerful as his, and she was right. Her experience was giving her an upper hand. Merlin was restricted to the limited number of spells he had learned in the spell book that Gaius gave him, and the spells he had learned from the books of the Amddiffyn library where as Morgouse had a plethora of spells to choose from.

Battling with Morgouse took all of his concentration which is why Ayra's shriek was such a surprise to him. He had almost forgotten about everything except for his battle with Morgouse.

"_Emrys!_" she yelled, even in moments of crisis remembering to protect him by using his codename.

Merlin turned to look at her. Her long brown hair was flowing behind her as she ran towards him, her green eyes filled with worry.

Merlin didn't realize the worry was for him until he felt the pain.

It was overwhelming, Merlin couldn't even find the strength to scream, but only managed to let out a small gasp.

He barely felt himself fall to the ground, the impact only a smidgen compared to the pain he was feeling.

He barely recognized Ayra standing over him as he let himself enter the welcoming blackness.

:::

Ayra watched in horror as her worst nightmares played out before her eyes. Merlin was actively battling Morgouse as Morgana stealthily snuck up behind him. Merlin was so intent on Morgouse that he didn't seem to notice her traitorous sister casting the scarlet spell behind him.

Ayra tried to think of anything she could do. She was too far away in the relative safety of the commander's circle to confront Morgana, so she did the only thing she could.

"_Emrys!"_ she yelled as she ran towards him, ignoring the yells of the angry king and nobles behind her.

Merlin turned his head towards her, but she couldn't see his expression because of those annoying cloaks.

She gestured towards Morgana as she ran, but the spell beat her to him. She watched helplessly as Merlin gasped and fell to the floor.

She fell to her knees and leaned over Merlin, his only movement on his chest as he struggled to breath.

"Merlin….. Merlin" She murmured with tears in her eyes.

"Don't even bother, there's no way to save him. We poisoned him with magic and the only cure is the Hoya Plant which is only found a three days journey away." Morgana, who had moved to stand next to her sister, gloated.

Ayra looked up at the sisters smiling smugly at Merlin's dying form, the tears freely falling down her face. Then she looked once more at Merlin, whose breathing was becoming more sporadic and she felt the familiar anger rising within her.

This time she didn't even try to stop it. Usually as her mother's spell tried to take over she put up some kind of fight, but this time she wanted nothing more than for Morgouse and Morgana to be punished for what they did to Merlin.

She looked back up at the sorceresses with blood red eyes. She was no longer in control of her actions; she had given in fully to her mother's spell.

Suddenly the wind started to pick up as Ayra stood. Morgouse and Morgana's smiles were replaced with looks of worry.

"How… How are you doing …." Morgouse's question was cut off by Ayra's piercing scream.

The magically enhanced scream vibrated throughout the entire battlefield, causing the fighting to pause and everyone to flinch and cover their ears.

Ayra stopped screaming and Morgouse and Morgana opened their eyes to a horrifying site. Ayra's eyes were blood red and there were tears streaming down her cheeks. Her hair was blowing in the wind around her face, and she wore a determined expression. She was terrifying.

"_**yn unig yn cael gwared o'r rhain geist**_!" she yelled as pure bursts of electricity burst from her hands toward Morgouse and Morgana.

Morgouse placed a shield around herself and her sister but the electricity went right through her shield and electrocuted both her and her sister. The sorceresses jolted as they were hit with the electricity and fell to the ground not moving.

The red from Ayra's eyes faded back into their normal green. She felt the anger leave her as her mother's spell ended. She exhaustedly fell to her knees next to Merlin. She never had been a very powerful sorceress and electrifying the Morgouse and Morgana and her mother's spell taking effect completely drained her.

Arthur ran over to where she was kneeling, Morgana's spell having ended when she went unconcious.

"What happened?" He asked

"Emrys and Morgouse were fighting," Ayra gasped "then Morgana snuck up behind him and poisoned him using magic. We need to get him to Gaius."

Arthur nodded as he scooped down and picked up Merlin bridal style. Ayra found the energy to run behind Arthur to the infirmary. She didn't want to leave Merlin.

Arthur ran right through the battle, Ayra right on his heals. A few people were still fighting but most of the sorcerers were retreating, but Ayra couldn't bring herself to care about that. Merlin was dying.

They reached the infirmiry quickly and Arthur burst into the tent and put Merlin down on a cot in the corner.

"I'll go find Gaius" Arthur said as he sprinted through the crowded infirmery.

Ayra walked over to Merlin's side and held his hand. His hand was warm and clamy. Just from touching his hand Ayra knew he had a fever.

She murmured the counter spell that kept Merlin's hood in place and pulled his hood down. Merlin was paler than usual and his lips were purple.

Ayra lightly brushed his sweaty hair out of his eyes as Arthur came over with Gaius and Julie.

"I found Gaius... what the..." Arthur stumbled

Gaius ignored the austonished prince and went over to his ward "What happened?" he asked Ayra.

"Morgana used a spell that poisoned him with magic. She said that the only cure is the Hoya Plant."

Gaius closed his eyes tightly. "I know that spell," he said softly "It's a simple and crude spell, but it's effective. The Hoya Plant is rare, and the only place I know of where it grows is a three days ride away from Camelot. There is nothing I can do."

Ayra let out a sob as she pressed Merlin's hand on her cheek.

"If there is no scientific solution, there can still be a magical cure." Julie said in her own voice. Ayra looked over at her and saw that Julie had somehow placed a curtain around Merlin's cot and had taken her hood off.

Gaius shook his head "There is no magical cure that I know of."

"Well we have to try something!" Julie exclaimed as she took Gaius's place by Merlin's side.

"_**gwella iddo am ei fod yn gwenwynig**_" Julie tried, but Merlin didn't respond

"_**gwella iddo am ei fod yn gwenwynig**_" she tried again, but nothing happened

"_**wneud yn well oherwydd ei fod yn sâl**_"

"_**iachâd iddo am ei salwch**_"

"_**ei fod yn sâl ystlumod ef yn awr!**_"

Gaius put a hand on Julie's shoulder. "There is nothing we can do for him"

Julie put a hand over her mouth as tears fell down her cheeks.

"Wait a minute," Arthur said as he moved forward from the corner where he had been staring silently until now "Merlin is Emrys."

Ayra nodded

"and now he's dying because Morgana poisoned him with magic?"

Ayra nodded again

"How... when did Merlin learn magic?"

"He never learned... it was always a part of him," Ayra explained "your father would have him killed for the way he was born."

"Well, there has to be something we can do to save him!"

"We just determined that we can't" Gaius said resonably.

Arhur sighed, ran his hand through his hair and started to pace.

"There has to be something we can do..."

The prince continued to pace. Arthur never thought that he should be mad at his manservant for being a warlock, nor did he ever think any ill will towards him. To him, his loyal servant and friend was dying and he needed to find a way to save him.

"What about the Cup of Life?" he asked after a few seconds of silence "It saved Sir Leon when he was on the brink of death. Could it save Merlin too?"

Gaius thought for a moment before responding "Yes, but the cup would demand a life in return. None of us has control over Life and Death so we would have no idea who the cup would choose in return for Merlin's life."

"There are so many dying people in here hopefully it will be one of them. It's a chance we have to take." Arthur yelled behind him as he left the curtaned area "Jules keep him alive for as long as possible. I'll be right back."

**Muahahaha another Cliffy. I just have to think of ways to make getting the cup difficult for Arthur. What? It wouldn't be interesting if it were easy. **

***Hint Hint Hint* Reviews would make the thought process go faster. (Your many reviews have made me write faster so far, what do you have to loose?)**


	19. Obstacles

**Ok so I did have this done on time, but Fanfiction decided not to let me sign in so I couldn't update it until now. **

**So I'm thinking maybe two more chapters after this? I have a lot of other ideas I want to write so I don't see a sequel in the near future but who knows? **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin**

Arthur sprinted through Camelot's main gates and into the courtyard, barely noticing that Urlon, Rila and Kaitra had ended the spell protecting Camelot. He didn't even notice the strange looks people were giving him as he burst past them.

Too soon his heart was pounding and his legs were cramping, but he didn't stop. Merlin's life depended on his getting the Cup of Life quickly. Ignoring his tired body the prince ran even faster. There would be plenty of time to rest after he saved Merlin's life.

He was so focused on getting to the vaults that he almost ran into his father who was heading to the throne room.

"Ah Arthur, I was looking for you," the King said with a smile "That was quite a victory."

"Ya, it was great" Arthur mumbled as he tried to get around his father and his guards.

"Wait, where are you going in such a hurry?" the king asked gripping his son's arm to prevent him from leaving "come to the throne room with me to celebrate our victory!"

Arthur shook his head "I can't father, Emrys is dying and I need to get the cup of life to save him."

Uther frowned "Arthur, you want to get a dangerous magical object out of the safety of Camelot's vaults so that you can save the life of a sorcerer? Really Arthur, think about how ridiculous you're being."

"Father, Emrys just saved Camelot from certain destruction! He has saved both of our lives and your throne on multiple occasions! You cannot still think that he is our enemy?"

"Arthur you were not there before the Great Purge! I have seen many sorcerers like this _Emrys,_" Uther almost spat the name "they pretend to be your ally, but eventually they turn on you."

Arthur was in turmoil. His father was right; he hadn't been there before the Great Purge. He had no idea how what sorcerers were like, and his father had always told him that they were evil. Saving Emrys would go against everything he had been taught. But this wasn't just Emrys, it was Merlin. And Merlin would never betray him… would he?

Arthur shook his head "Father I cannot condemn a man because he may or may not betray me. It is not fair to allow him to die because of something he has not done yet. For all we know, Emrys is just as likely to be Camelot's greatest ally as its enemy. If Emrys dies and we did not do everything in our power to stop it then we will only create more enemies. You have seen how the sorcerers look up to him, if he dies then they will blame his death on us and we will soon have another army of sorcerers attack Camelot and we will not have Emrys to protect us."

"I will not allow you to save the life of a sorcerer!" Uther yelled "Guards take my son into the dungeons!"

"NO!" Arthur yelled as two of his father's guards grabbed him "Emrys will die!"

"Exactly," the King said stone faced "you will be released when you realize that saving _any _sorcerer is wrong" Uther turned his back to his struggling son and entered the throne room.

:::::

"Where is Arthur?" Gaius asked nervously.

"He will come." Ayra said simply.

The physician had been pacing in the curtained area where Merlin lay since the prince had sprinted off towards Camelot. Ayra hadn't moved from her spot next to Merlin since Arthur left. She held one of his sweaty pale hands in both of hers, and once and a while she brushed his unruly black hair out of his face. They both were trying their best to stay out of Julie's way as she sad spell after spell over Merlin. Desperately trying to slow down the effects of the magical poison until Arthur returned.

"He has to hurry; Merlin does not have much longer." Gaius said expertly. He had seen countless people die and he knew that his ward did not have much longer until he was beyond the help of the cup of life.

"Don't worry, Arthur will come. He has to." Ayra replied, brushing Merlin's hair out of his face. Even though she wasn't a physician like Gaius, she could see that Merlin didn't have long. But she kept telling herself that Arthur would come. She had to, otherwise she would be admitting that Merlin was going to die and she didn't know what she would do without him.

They waited in silence as Julie continued to relentlessly say spell after spell, trying everything and anything she could think of.

::::

"Let go of me!" roared a struggling Arthur. He hadn't stopped trying to escape since the two guards had dragged him away from his father and down.

"Hey, relax mate" one of the guards said as they released Arthur.

"Gawaine….. Lancelot?" Arthur asked incredulously

"Ya mate, you never bothered to check who was dragging you along now did you?" Gawaine said with a smirk.

Arthur ignored the knights taunt "We need to hurry and get the cup of life! Emrys is dying!"

"Emrys… Let's go!" Lancelot said as he started to sprint down the passageway towards the vaults.

"Why is this Emrys bloke so important to you two?" Gawaine asked as he and Arthur followed Lancelot sprinting down the hallway

"Because he's Merlin! Wait how do you know?" exclaimed Arthur and Lancelot at the same time as they stopped running

"Mates if this is Merlin were talking about we can figure out the details later. Let's get that cup"

:::

Julie slumped down into a chair.

"Julie?" Ayra asked as she looked at Merlin. The warlock was still alive, so why had Julie stopped.

"I can't… If I do one more spell I'll faint"

"If you stop now Merlin will die!"

"I know but I can't, I have no more energy. There's nothing more I can do"

Ayra stood up and offered Julie her hand "Here, take my magic"

"What?" Julie asked "How is that possible?"

"It's something that Merlin said before all of this started. One sorcerer can give magical energy to another."

Julie took Ayra's hand and instantly felt more energized as Ayra gave her the energy to continue. So she instantly went back to work on trying to save Merlin's life.

::::

"Where is it?" Arthur yelled as he closed another chest

"Who knew that the king was such a hoarder? I mean, the guy really needs to get rid of some of this magical stuff" Gawaine said as he searched through the piles of magical artifacts with Arthur and Lancelot.

"Insulting the King is not going to help us find the cup any faster" Lancelot said reasonably

"Oh but it's so much fun"

"Not if you want to keep your head"

"Oh please, the King would never behead one of his precious knights. It would be bad publicity."

"He might be inclined to behead the low born drunken knight who soils Camelot's good name just by waking up in the morning."

Gawaine threw the closest thing to him, which just happened to be some kind of magical necklace.

"Hey!" Lancelot yelled as he rubbed his head where the necklace hit him

"Will you two please concentrate! Merlin's life is on the line!" Arthur yelled

But Gawaine wasn't listening. Instead he was staring at the place where the necklace used to be before it had left a bump on Lancelot's head.

"I've found it!" He cried as he grabbed the cup

"Let's go" Arthur said as the three knights sprinted through the castle, hoping they weren't too late.

**Sorry for the cliffe but I couldn't resist! **

**Remember Reviews make me write faster! So you see that little yellow button down there? Take one minute of your time to push it and say something nice (or mean but i prefer nice) and as a reward I'll update sooner rather than later!**


	20. Keeping up Appearences

**Hi everyone. **

**I know I haven't updated in a while but it's not my fault! I've been away then I had a ton of tests and I became obssesed with Big Bang Theory and have spent most of my free time wacthing that.**

**Ok so maybe it is my fault, but Im giving you the next chapter now so that makes up for it right?**

**I'd like to thank Tagrea for her pestering, which without this chapter would not be up so quickly (How can I deny what Sheldon wants?)**

Arthur burst into the tent, Lancelot and Gawaine on his heels.

"I've got it!" he exclaimed as he took in the scene around him.

Julie stood over Merlin chanting spells while Ayra held her hand, her eyes closed in concentration. Then holding her hand was a cloaked figure whose other hand was held by another cloaked figure covered in swords and knives. Gaius watched nervously from the corner.

"What are they doing?" Gawaine asked "Why are they holding hands?"

"They're lending power to Julie, otherwise she would not have been able to keep Merlin alive for this long."

"Ok that's great, I have the cup now what do we do with it?" Arthur asked as he watched Merlin's breathing lessen as Julie switched spells.

"Here, give me the cup," Gaius ordered as he opened a flagon of water. Gaius poured the water into the cup "There."

"That's it?" Lancelot asked incredulously

"Well he has to drink it but essentially yes" Gaius replied

"So anyone of us could it? There's no magic involved?"

"Well usually there is," Gaius replied "But the only people with power over the cup are sorcerers with the power to mirror life and death. For the rest of us this process is totally out of our control. The only sure factor in this type of magic is that Merlin will survive and another life will be taken as a result to restore balance to the world. But only those with the power over life and death can choose whose life will be taken. Unfortunately the only person with that power in Camelot is the person we are trying to save."

"Merlin has power of life and death?" Arthur asked astonished. Who knew that he lanky idiotic manservant was actually a powerful sorcerer.

"Yes, now can you please save him? We don't have much energy left." Ayra gasped

"Of course," Gaius said "But I must warn all of you, I have no control over who will die. It's usually someone close by, but one can never be sure. Just be prepared to drop dead."

Gaius walked over to Merlin, noticing that nobody left the small cornered off area. Everyone here was willing to die for the young warlock.

He placed the cup to his wards lips and poured the water into his mouth. Some of the water spilled out of his mouth, but most of it went down his throat. Gaius saw his adam's apple move and sighed in relief as Merlin's pallor started to return to normal and his breathing evened out.

Julie collapsed into a chair exhausted, and Ayra and the two cloaked figures lent against the cot in exhaustion.

And they all waited to see if one of them would die.

:::

Outside of the small alcove where she had seen Arthur, Gawaine and Lancelot run into moments before with the cup of life, Gwen sighed as the man she had been tending for stopped breathing.

She had known the young man from the lower town. He was courting a young woman who Gwen was friendly with. When she had seen him brought in from the battlefield with a chest wound she had known it would be fatal.

She had instantly ran to his side, trying to find some way she could help cure him, but he had been stabbed in stomach and there was nothing she could do.

She had sat here for the last twenty minutes, holding his hand, and allowing him to pretend that she was the girl he had fallen in love with. He told her about the future they would have together, and all of his plans. She tried to make his last moments as comfortable as possible, and she hoped the smile on his dead face had something to do with her.

Even though she did not expect him to last very long, she had thought that he would still be with her for another couple of hours. But what did she know? She was not a healer like Gaius so there was no way she could accurately predict how long he would live.

Gwen left the unmoving body on the cot and moved on to help someone else, never once guessing that the man's stomach wound did not kill him.

:::

They all stood anxiously waiting for Merlin to awaken, except for Julie who was sitting. After nobody had collapsed and there were no screams coming from outside their small alcove, the group had agreed that one of the already dying soldier's lives had been taken.

Merlin's breathing had evened out and some color had returned to his face long ago. Now they just waited for him to awaken.

"Sire," Gaius said

"Yes Gaius?" Arthur replied tearing his eyes away from Merlin to look at the physician

"Sire, I do not think it's wise for us all to stay here with him"

"What do you mean Gaius?"

"Your father expects you to be in the dungeons, and if he finds that you are not, he will punish Gawaine and Lancelot. Someone has to put the cup of life back as well. And also the king is probably going to send some knights to arrest the members of the Amddiffyn now that the battle is over."

"So what are you suggesting Gaius?" Arthur asked

"I'm suggesting that Gawaine take you down to the dungeons so that your father will not be suspicious. Lancelot you take the cup back to the vaults in case anyone goes down there. Ayra, you should gather your men and take Merlin back to wherever your headquarters is and stay there for a while."

Everyone nodded except for Arthur "But…."

Gaius interrupted the prince by putting a hand on his shoulder "I know you don't want to leave him and neither do I, but it is the best way to protect him from your father."

Arthur knew that Gaius was right, but he still didn't want to leave Merlin with a group of sorcerers. But Merlin was a sorcerer, so he would be safe with them. And these were good sorcerers; after all he had just trusted the welfare of Camelot to them.

"All right," Arthur said after a moment "Let's go"

Lancelot took the cup, Gawaine grabbed Arthur's arm saying he had to keep up pretenses but wearing that an obnoxious grin, one of the cloaked figures put on Merlin's hood and picked him up bridal style, Ayra and Julie put on their hoods and they left.

:::

Uther left Arthur in the dungeons for one day. During that day Arthur had a lot of time to worry and think, mostly about his manservant.

He worried that the cup hadn't worked and Merlin was dead. Being locked in the dungeons meant that he had no access to any information. They could be burying Merlin right now and he wouldn't know. Or what if his father had captured the members of the Amddiffyn before they could get away? Merlin could have burnt at the stake this morning along with Ayra and the girl he had seen desperately trying to heal Merlin (he had never actually learned her name).

Eventually he settled down enough to stop worrying as much and focus on what exactly had happened during the battle. He had learned that Merlin was sorcerer, and from his understanding, a very powerful one. So powerful that other sorcerers seemed to look up to him for some reason.

Arthur wasn't sure how he felt about that. At first he had only felt betrayal. Arthur had thought of Merlin as a confidant, he told Merlin everything, yet Merlin didn't trust him enough to tell him about his magic.

For about an hour Arthur skulked in his cell thinking that Merlin didn't think of him as a friend. But then Arthur reasoned through it, and realized that Merlin didn't tell him because as the Prince of Camelot he was required to turn in all sorcerers to his father to be burnt.

So what was he to do now? Betray his father's trust or Merlin's? Arthur had always been taught that magic was evil and until a few weeks ago he had no reason to doubt it. But over the last few weeks he saw there were good sorcerers as well as bad. And Merlin couldn't possibly be bad.

He wondered how many times Merlin had saved his life with his magic. How many times had Arthur ridiculed him for hiding or staying out of a fight, when really his manservant had just preformed a spell?

Yet, Uther always told him that even the best of people can be corrupted by magic. Surely Morgana was proof of that. Maybe one day Merlin, Ayra and the others would be corrupted by their magic and turn against Camelot?

Arthur knew he had to choose a side before he left the dungeons. He could either support his father and everything he had ever been taught, or help the people who had been secretly supporting Camelot and were obviously good.

**Ok guys, one more chapter after this :(**

**Its so sad to think its coming to an end, but I'm going to write other stories so keep an eye out!**

**Now if you liked this chapter push that little yellow button down there and right something nice. If you didnt like push that yellow button and yell at me and tell me to write and better chapter next time. **


	21. Returning to Normal

**Last Chapter *sobs***

**I'd like to thank everyone who ever reviewed, favorited, or alerted to this story or to me. You guys really were amazing and I honestly never expected the large number of people reading this story. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin**

Merlin nervously drummed his fingers on the prince's table. After a day in the dungeons Arthur was to be released soon and Merlin was terrified.

After waking up, Merlin barely had time to get his bearings before Ayra pounced on him, her frantic lips attacking his, her tears of joy leaving a salty taste in his mouth.

After Ayra calmed down she gave Merlin space to sit up in his cot (although she refused to let go of his hand). Merlin finally had a chance to look around him.

"What am I doing in base?" he asked "What happened to the battle? Is Arthur alright? Did we win?"

Ayra smiled "Yes we won, Morgouse and Morgana's army has retreated out of the city. Arthur though is currently sitting in the dungeons, most likely brooding over the fact that you have magic."

Merlin gaped like a fish as he tried to form words, but his voice seemed to have left him.

"A-A-A-Arth-th-th-er kno-kn-knows?" he managed to stutter "H-H-o-ow?"

Ayra took pity on him and told him everything. How Morgana had poisoned him and she had used her mother's curse.

"I suppose it finally was good for something." Ayra had joked

Then she told him how Arthur went to get the cup of life to save him and how he had ran into his father who had demanded he go to the dungeons.

"Luckily Uther ordered Gawaine and Lancelot to take him, so once they heard you were in trouble they helped Arthur retrieve the cup. But that's why Arthur's in the dungeons now because we want the king to think your dead."

Ayra finally told him how she, Leyerdon and Galahad had lent Julie energy so that she could keep him alive until Arthur returned with the cup and saved his life.

"So now were here. Zoe and I were waiting for you to wake up, but she went to the library for a moment, and I'm hiding from Uther because he wants to behead me."

"Who died?" Merlin whispered

"What?"

"Who died to save my life?"

Ayra didn't meet his eyes. She knew that Merlin would be angry that they had taken another life to save his, especially since there was a possibility that it could have been someone he cares about.

"Were not sure…." She felt Merlin stiffen and loosen his hold on her hand "But we think that it was someone in the infirmary who had been close to death already. Lancelot talked to Gwen and she said a man with a stab wound to the stomach had died around the same time you were saved." She finished quickly

Merlin sighed "But how did you know that one of you wouldn't have died? None of you has the power to mirror life and death!"

"It was a chance we were all willing to take Merlin"

"Ayra I could never have forgiven myself if something happened to any of you."

Ayra lightly kissed his fingers "Merlin, stop thinking of what could have happened and think about what is happening. We're all alive, Camelot is safe, and you are surrounded by people who care about you enough to lay down their lives for you. Including a certain prince who knew about your magic and took the risk anyway."

Merlin's head, which had been looking at the sheets, shot up to look at her.

"Do you think that Arthur doesn't mind my magic?"

Ayra shrugged "I don't know. But I know that no matter what his initial reaction is, he is a good enough friend to forgive you and accept you for who you are."

Merlin smiled and leaned in to lightly kiss Ayra.

Just as he pulled back Zoe entered the room.

"Oh good you're awake," she said putting her hands on her hips "I have a bone to pick with you! Did I not tell you to not fight in that battle? Did I not tell you that something would happen? You could have avoided a lot of worrying if you had just listened to me. You should have seen Ayra, I've never seen her so upset!"

"If I hadn't fought Camelot would have fallen. And everything worked out."

Zoe huffed "Camelot would have been just fine whether you got attacked by a magical poison or not"

Merlin shook his head and returned his attention to Ayra, there was no arguing with a determined Zoe. "So what is this I hear about you being a wreck while I was sick?"

Ayra blushed "I was worried that my best spell caster would be out of commission"

"Oh really?"

"Yes"

"Is that all?"

"Well, maybe…"

"Yes?"

"Maybe I was a little worried about your welfare"

"Only a little?"

"Well, maybe more than a little"

Merlin smiled and leaned in for another kiss, this one deeper and more passionate.

::::

Merlin focused on reality once more as the door to Arthur's chambers opened. Merlin jumped out of his seat as Arthur entered.

"Arthur…" he began but was cut off by the disheveled prince

"Merlin prepare a bath. Those dungeons are disgusting, there not fit for a pig let alone a human being. I feel like one of my horses."

Merlin couldn't help but take the bait "what is that supposed to imply?"

"That you do a terrible job of mucking out my stables."

"I do a great job of mucking out your stables"

"Merlin you barely get half the filth out of there, which is why I have to have you muck them out so often"

"Well I'd like to see how well you can shovel out horse poop"

"Merlin I'm a prince, princes don't muck out stables, we have servants do it for us."

"No, you don't muck out stables because you're a prat"

"Merlin you idiot you really can't talk to me like that"

"I'm sorry, is clotpole a better description?"  
"_Merlin!"_

"Yes?" Merlin asked innocently

Arthur sighed "Never mind just finish getting the bath together."

"Yes sire!"

Merlin finished preparing Arthur's bath in silence. They're banter earlier had calmed his nerves for a little, but before long his old fears were resurfacing.

What would Arthur do? Would he hand Merlin into his father or would he continue this silly charade that nothing had happened? How could he just stand there like he didn't know? Didn't he have some kind of reaction? Even an angry one would be better than none.

Merlin finished drawing the bath and the prince sighed as he soaked in the warm water. Merlin left the prince's chambers to get Arthur's lunch.

All the way to the kitchens and back the warlock brooded over his future.

::::

When Merlin returned Arthur was out of the bath and dressed. Merlin placed the food on the table and emptied the bath into a drain outside the prince's chambers.

When he returned Arthur had finished eating and was sitting at the head of the table drumming his fingers, almost exactly as Merlin had been only an hour before.

"Do you need anything else sire?" Merlin asked nervously

Arthur sighed "Yes, sit down Merlin we need to talk."

Merlin anxiously sat next to the prince.

"Merlin, or Emrys, or whatever your real name is…" the prince began

"Merlin," the warlock interrupted "My real name is Merlin, only the druids call me Emrys."

"Ok then Merlin, I know you're a sorcerer…"

"Warlock" Merlin interrupted again "I'm a warlock, not a sorcerer."

"Ok Warlock then and I just wanted to tell you, in light of your services to Camelot, I won't turn you into my father."

Merlin smiled, he was safe! He never actually thought Arthur would turn him over to the king but it still felt good to hear him say it.

"But I'm not ready to fully come to terms with this yet," Arthur said as Merlin's smile faded

"What?"

"Look, I've been thinking about it. I understand why you didn't tell me and why you practice magic but my father is still King and as crowned prince I must remain loyal to him and his laws," Arthur said "I'm willing to overlook the fact that you are a warlock now, but I don't want anything to do with your magic.

"I just cannot choose between you and my father, so I figure this is a good compromise. You will not do any magic in front of me, and I will tell no one about your magic. If there is some kind of emergency that you and the Amddiffyn need to deal with we can have a code or something so that you can just go.

"I know that I should be doing more, like taking an active part in the Amddiffyn, but I can't. I cannot betray my father's trust. It would not only hurt my relationship with him, but also Camelot as a whole. But I also do not want to betray you Merlin because you are, well, the first real friend that I've had.

"I'm not saying I do not accept you Merlin. I understand you have magic and I guess that is part of who you are and I have accepted that. But I just do not want any part of it just yet."

Merlin smiled. Arthur accepted him, magic or no magic. Arthur's decision was more than he could ever hope for. Not only would having Arthur around while he did magic be weird, Merlin wasn't sure if he himself was ready for Arthur to help him with things concerning magic.

Everything would return to how it should be.

::::

Merlin bounded up the stairs three at a time. Ayra and the others need his help because Morgouse and Morgana were up to no good again. But before he could help them there was something Merlin had to do.

It was three weeks after the great battle, as it came to be known, and everything had returned to normal. The towns people returned to their regular routines, Gaius had Merlin picking herbs for him at the most inconvenient times and Arthur still wanted his horses mucked out on a regular basis.

And of course, the Amddiffyn kept fighting for Camelot in secret.

After the battle Uther had sent out a half hearted search for the members of the Amddiffyn. The king knew that the only person he could actually arrest as a member of the Amddiffyn was Ayra and she stayed in base at all times unless she was fighting with the rest of the Amddiffyn. And there was a silent agreement among the guards to leave figures in the dark green cloaks with unusually deep voices alone to conduct their business. One time a guard had even seen Galahad doing magic and had continued on his way.

Merlin burst into the prince's chambers panting heavily. The prince looked up from his reports and was about to say something but Merlin started tugging on his ears before Arthur could speak.

Arthur nodded solemnly and returned to his reports. Merlin sprinted back out of the room, on his way to help the others. Arthur was aware that Merlin would be busy tonight battling magical creatures in the forest and he would need another servant to take his place.

One day Arthur would do more than just give his servant time off to protect Camelot. One day the Once and Future King would join Emrys. Maybe that day would come before Uther's reign ended, but both young men knew that was most likely not going to happen. Arthur was already planning of repealing some of Uther's laws against magic, and he already had a certain warlock in mind to be his advisor on all things magic. He was even considering making a new position in the council: Court Magician for this certain warlock.

But until then Emrys and the Amddiffyn saved Camelot from behind the scenes while the Once and Future King pretended not to notice. But one day things would be different. One day things would change.

**Well that's it. It's all over *continues sobbing***

**Please leave me a review of the whole story, or just on this chapter however you want to do it. **

**I can't believe it's over! Pushing the completed button was one of the hardest things i've ever done.**

**I'm going to start another story soon which will most likely be called "No Escaping Destiny". It will be a short fic, like 3 or 4 chapters but check it out once its up!**

**Once again a huge thank you to all my amazing readers!**


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